GEVO GE ES44AC: The Top Locomotive of the Top Railroads

[@mainecoastrailfan]

An interesting note about that GP20C-ECO pictured at Steamtown: That unit was assigned to the Rockland Branchline in Maine back in 2021 - so it looks a little familiar to me! CP very quickly phased out all remaining ex-Montreal Maine & Atlantic B23-7's from the Central Maine & Quebec Railway fleet when they bought CMQ in 2020, even going as far as side lining the one based at CMQ's island operation in Rockland, ME. Their answer was to send out 2279, (pictured in your video), to run traffic mostly between a large cement plant up the coast, to a barge facility on the waterfront in town. After CP leased their contract to the Finger Lakes Railway earlier this year, so went the GP20C-ECO. (Although it had been sent back a couple months prior due to issues with wear on the wheel flanges). To add some additional information, that same locomotive was involved in a moderately violent wreck in northern Maine on CP's Bangor Subdivision back in November; where it was tossed on its side into a swamp, and the lead unit was skewered by a stick of rail through the conductor's side window. Thankfully, there were miraculously no injuries. I've been watching Trains21 for awhile, so I thought you might be interested to hear some background on an otherwise forgettable locomotive.

[@thomasdeturk5142]

You are the best KZbinr that does a good job explaining the different types of diesel class locomotives.

[@_Vanadium]

Hey AC, I work for the Canadian Pacific out of Mason City Iowa, and I saw the photo of that SD30C-ECO, CP 5037, and as a matter of fact that locomotive has been dwelling over here near the Mason City area working our locals out here, just thought I’d leave a comment, truly is crazy how much far power can make it sometimes, whether it’s from being interchanged and what not; you’ll never know where they’ll pop up!

[@Trains21]

Indeed! Thanks for sharing!

[@Rob-tr1st]

Oh Lord ac here comes bensef comments! Hope your doing good bud and thank you for another GEVO upload! I should have asked you to do a 7HFL VS FDL video.

[@Trains21]

Yeah, I'm waitin' for em!

[@Rob-tr1st]

@@Trains21 HAHAHA love ya man, hope you have a good evening!

[@wesw9586]

Stobe was right when he dubbed them the FN BS if you ask me.

[@em2attic]

ES44AC loads better than most, has more options than most when needed to cut down powered axles and or dynamic brakes, they are usually quiet compared to 70ace's which to most engineers thats a plus. The only "rival" to the ES44AC would be the SD70AH-T4 which is even quieter and has even more options for the engineer to choose how they would like to run their train plus the horn sounds better than any K5HL imo.

[@iusetano]

Excellent video AC. I like the new info. New to me that is.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Hans, I always try to drop a little knowledge in my videos. But then again, you already knew that!

[@thomasdeturk5142]

You do a very good job explaining the AC Locomotives, I like your videos. That is why I subscribed to your channel to give you my best support for you and your channel to keep you popular. 👍👏

[@lackawannavalleyrailfan]

Cool stuff! Yeah, I've noticed the ES44AC is less common then it used to be

[@stephenbroughman3231]

I think you need to go back and watch the video again. Maybe you are seeing less, but the railroads are ordering more of them.

[@AbelG8781]

Bruh what!? ES44ACs are the most common locomotive in the US. Where do you railfan?

[@BeeLineEast]

I see some footage here that was taken from near the Harris tower. Cool.

[@Trains21]

Yep, Train 13R, or what it used to be.

[@BeeLineEast]

@@Trains21 Cool that is the location i observed the Nickel Plate 765 when it was in for the N/S 100 year anniversary.

[@nancy8521]

Nice catch

[@kennyirish5021]

Very interesting, Thanks for digging that up!!

[@Trains21]

Thanks for watching, Kenny.

[@HNT63]

AC you deserve a thanks but it won't let me send you one the link is there but it's not working. I can do it on other channels but I can't do it here

[@Trains21]

Thanks HNT, you can try my PayPal link in the description if you'd like. That should be working fine. And thank you.

[@cbolanz1]

How many ES44ACs were produced? The internet is giving me too many answers. I counted 3894 and 3819. And another website says 3764 units.

[@cobra7250]

I know that GE C4 locomotives take weight off the center axle of the truck but I wonder how they do this.

[@es44driver]

There is a fixture you may notice in the middle of the truck that looks like a brake cylinder; it is, in fact, a brake cylinder, but it is attached to beams similar to the brake rigging on the freight cars. Air is put into the cylinder to cause the middle axle to take up more weight when they don't want extra weight on the powered axles, and release the air when they want more weight on them. It's similar to the pony axles on large charter buses.

[@LeahCortana]

And once more GE Deiseil Locomotive model that was standard cab thatt is[i.e] GE C36-7

[@TimothyJazmineFamily]

Fantastic Job AC

[@Trains21]

Thanks!

[@CoopsTrains]

I’ve also noticed that CP has no ET44s & are the only class one in North America to not have any of those locos…

[@_Vanadium]

They’ll inherit some with the merger with KCS.

[@bradleyogden5688]

Remember to smash the like button 👍👍👍👍. Love your videos!

[@Trains21]

Thanks Bradley!

[@JN-hw3uf]

what is differents the GE ES44AC in Norfolk Southern and a GE AC4400CW is the engine the same

[@UnionThugg]

AC44 uses a 7FDL16 diesel, the ES44AC has a Gevo-12 engine.

[@JN-hw3uf]

ok thanks

[@Slim_Slid]

The radiators on the long hood portions are different between the units. The prime motors between the series are also different. The ES30ACI's,ES40DC's,ES44DC's, ES44AC's,and ES44C4's use the V12 GEVO motors but the ES58ACI's & ES59ACI's use the V16 GEVO motors. The AC4400CW's including the previous GE -9 & -8 series all have the 7FDL's which dates back to the GE -7 series.

[@UnionThugg]

Gevo 12 & 16 engines are derived from the 7HDL used in the AC60. AC44 and C44-9 remanufactured units get the brand new 7FDL16 Advantage engine.

[@JN-hw3uf]

ok thanks

[@charlesferebee263]

Would love to see a bunch of SD40-2s rebuild with AC traction motors and Caterpillar Power. Just Saying 🇺🇸 STAY SAFE out THERE. !

[@Trains21]

Thanks! That would be something, but I think it's only a dream!

[@harrimanfox8961]

every time they try repowering old EMDs with Caterpillar engines, they turn out to be complete failures.

[@TrainLoverHimu]

Amazing ❤🚂❤

[@Trains21]

Thanks!

[@JackCarsonsRailroadVideos]

#GElife

[@kens.3729]

Would sure like to sit down with someone in the Power Groups at a Class I Railroad. I Swear they must use a Hat to pull out Unit Choices and Assign to a train. 🤪👎

[@em2attic]

Negative, we usually just throw on whatever has ptc, facing the right direction and needs the least amoumt of moves made to be made into a proper consist to meet TPA requirements. Also depending on the train it may need to be a train where the leader needs to meet Canadian requirements such as having a hot plate and a stretcher in case of injury since they work in such trash conditions. Sometimes they will reward us with a clean unit as a leader sometimes they reward us with the scum of the earth as a leader but all mainly depends on what i stated above.

[@em2attic]

@made-in-the80s the yellow guys

[@demil3618]

Hmm, somehow they all look the same to me

[@demil3618]

Not that much distinguishable difference then. I find it hard to spot in videos. Especially those few metres in length are hard to see in a video. Are those cabs pre-manufactured by the same manufacturer somewhere?@made-in-the80s

[@maxrshelltrack7443]

I know there's different variations of gevos or rebuilds but I still call em the same besides dash-9s.

[@detroitdieselseries5071]

Meanwhile GE locomotives don’t sell in Europe

[@Trains21]

Interesting, I didn't know that.

[@stephenbroughman3231]

They don’t have to, they have a 70% US a market share!

[@UnionThugg]

​@stephenbroughman3231 probably closer to 90%. Progress Rail is selling new units almost exclusively for export, but stateside, it's reman work only.

[@TobiasL1000]

Would be cool to see some AC44 or so in Germany. But I think they can’t fit for the strict environmental laws here in Europe.

[@joseaugusto-zo2vr]

​@@TobiasL1000nao so isso tbm tem o gabarito elas sao muito grandes pras ferrovias dae

[@LeahCortana]

NS Had ES40dc not ES44ac

[@AbelG8781]

NS has ES44ACs....

[@AlikStansberry]

They were rated at 4000HP when originally delivered, between 2013-14 they along with the Dash 9s were upgraded to 4400HP.

[@ChainsawNW1218]

ChainsawN&W1218, I hope NS is able to get the GE ES44AC SRR HU rolling again, do You know anything about this!👍🚂🛤

[@Trains21]

I don't sorry.