Eastern Railroad Discussion > GE/Fort Worth?

About how long does it takes GE rebuild an AC4400? I mean a Complete rebuild. Not just a cab replacement or a software upgrade. I ask because they seem to turn them out pretty fast compared to PROGRESS RAIL. Also anybody know if these rebuilds run as good as a new unit. 

Proud Foamer
OAKLEY, CA

I think I read somewhere that once the unit is bare frame it takes about a week to do the rebuild.

Out 

callum_out Wrote:
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> I think I read somewhere that once the unit is
> bare frame it takes about a week to do the
> rebuild.
>
> Out 

Of course the subassemblies are constructed ahead of time and made ready elsewhere in the plant so reassembly is just that....bolt every thing on and hook it up.....cab with console and seats already in.....underfloor brake equipment on tray that slides into place under the cab....just hook it all up.....electrical cabinet...completely wired, just drop it on.....everything else....it's there on the assembly floor somewhere...just grab it when you are ready....I suspecet much of the week of rebuilding is spent in actuallly connecting everything. Although by the time it's on the locomotive it's basically plug and play....there's hundreds of doo dads to connect....

That's why there are more old EMD's still working than those ratty old ge's......................... still say polish a turd it's still a turd

10speed Wrote:
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> That's why there are more old EMD's still working
> than those ratty old ge's.........................
> still say polish a turd it's still a turd

GE had a very strange approach to locomotives for a long time and they were not something you'd ever want to mess with.....as an engineer it was an exercise in futility...yes they ran....but they took forever to load....and the dynamic brakes were flaccid to non existent....and faults required stopping....going out of the cab and into the electrical cabinet to consult an annunciator to see what had gone wrong....with luck one of several dozen relays needed prodding to reset....but by and by GE upped their game....their locomotives became more and more dependable and more powerful and the build quality quite good...while EMD rested on it laurels....and starting with the SD50 everything went pear shaped....oh the 710 engine was reliable but the engines as a whole just lost their pulling ability for some reason....and even when they were computerized you could tell the computers were overlaid on ancient EMD technology.....and build quality hit the dirt, the engines were just shoddily built.....doors would fly open....headliners falling down.....but alas.....maybe the affiliation with Caterpillar has helped...the new Tier IV 1010 engine is a beast and it seems to be quite good....and the new SD70aceT4 is quite a clean sheet design....it's still an EMD body but seems more solid....time will tell.....GE for their part still builds well and they are the sales leader and probably will be for a while, but the playing field is levelling out. 

To continue this thought.  agree with what engineerinvirginia said. When I went to work for the SCL in 1973, EMD gp40's esecially and the first gen GP 7's and 9"s were reliable. The 4 axle U-36B's were reliable,but it took stepladders to resetanythig out of the cab.The END 30 and 35 series had transistion problems. they would load to 25-30 mph.The 6 axle ALCOs and GE U25,28,and30's were little better than useless. We ran up and down the road at 20-30 mph. I have gone slower.I agree with the poster the EMD 50's were ok,but not a big improvement over the 40's. I still peferred the 40's. SCL bought some -7's from GE. They had put the electrical cabinet behind the cab and made a few not so obvious changes. They were much more reliable than tHE PREVIOUS ge's. Then came the 60's from EMD. I don't know what all happened, I heard some thingsbut don't know them to be fact. All I can say about the 60 series is the ones from Conrail rode extremely rough.  The -8 GEs came along and were reliable and outstanding pullers. They didn't have the slippage problems earlier GE's had, and they pulled. 3 of the c40-8's could do what 4SD40's could.The b36-7 could accelerate and run piggybacks and merchandise trains very well. The B40-8 could accelerate it better. The only problem with the -7's was lack of a nose if you hit anything bigger than an automobile. Then the AC revolution started in the mid 90's. If you had told me that 2 units would pull 90 coal from Columbia,SC or Augusta, GA to Savannah, I would have called you a liar. They did it every day day in and day out. The EMD AC units rattled, the cabs were drafty, and they could not do what the GE's could. The 4700's rode better,but after some time rattled and were noisy. The GE's kept getting quieter, or I was getting deafer. When I retired in 2013 the ge's were the most confortable, quiet engine on the rr. The best riding still is an E-8. I never thought when I went to work I would say what I just said comparing the two manufacters of engines.

Sam 

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
>...and the new SD70aceT4 is quite a clean sheet design

oh really?  Is that why the breakers & doors are scattered around the back of the cab instead of everything being in one cabinet on the engineer's side?
is that why you have to move the middle seat to open one of the breaker cabinets?
that clean sheet design:  is that why they are still using (only) 8 buttons on their ancient computer screens that are rediculiously laid out, so you have to press 4 buttons to get the counter to count up instead of down?
is that new design why you can only operate the DP motors from the right screen & not the left screen?
yeah they really thought that through.  what a dumb@$$ design that still continues.

they did finally get rid of the ever shrinking steps to get on the durned things & brought back the L windshields, I'll give it to them they finally figured that out after 15 years.

I did say it's still an EMD body....just a little more solid...yes it's weird and klunky but for the most part it's the best they've done in a few years....I will say I don't like the stiff ride. 

Soon we're going to have to get used to calling them Wabtec and Progress Rail instead of GE and EMD.  They haven't been the latter two for a few years now.  The new names aren't as catchy though.

I see BNSF hauling new looking, high gloss CSX units out of Oklahoma City regularly.  Maybe the CM44AC /  4400 rebuilds?

They snap those things together so fast it's unbelievable.  Really starting with a frame already cut down it's not much different than building a new unit.  I remember visiting GE Erie back in the late 90's when BNSF Dash 9's were pouring out of there and they told us "It takes longer to paint one than it does to build it."  

Bill Miller
Galt, ON