> That is good stuff. Didn't the C424's go on to another railroad? What kinds of
> problems did they have? Was it something the 2nd owner would have been able to
> rectify?
The C424s went to Conrail, and later many of them were rebuilt by GE as C424ms for a variety of roads, including GB&W and D&H. Today, several of the rebuilt EL units are running on the WNY&P/LA&L.
The C425s went to BCR just prior to Conrail, and the majority of the remaining units were later repatriated to the US by Genesee Valley Transportation (Delaware-Lackawanna, MA&N).
> I myself had wondered about how awesome the GP38's really are? The 16 cylinders
> for 2000hp, I wondered if the savings of not having a turbocharger really
> offsets the cost's of the extra 4 cylinders? I guess you cannot say the U23B's
> were better considering which of them is still around in quantity, but was the
> GP39-2 a better alternative? Or it could be a matter of opinion.
Not only that, but four-cycle engines (GE and Alco) are inherently more fuel-efficient than EMD's two-cycle design.
The U23B was a solid performer, but like most GE U-series and Dash-7 series units, there's little cost-effective rebuild potential in them, hence the reason you don't see them anymore.
The GP39-2 brings in the expensive-to-maintain turbocharger as well. If anything, I could see the EL having purchased GP15's...
And let's not forget: The EL *did* order both U23Bs and GP38-2s, but both orders were cancelled when it was known EL was definitely going into Conrail.
- Paul
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