| Union Pacific Railroad (UP) type General Electric ES44AC heavy diesel-electric freight locomotive. Yellow basic color scheme.
Operating 2023
Source: www.maerklin.de
The traditional US company General Electric has been one of the worlds largest rail vehicle manufacturers for decades. In 2005, GE introduced a new type of locomotive designed to meet stricter emission standards. The design of this series, called the EVOLUTION Series, was based on the six-axle DASH locomotives that had been in production for decades. For the drive, however, GE developed a completely new, 12-cylinder diesel engine with an output of 4400 hp. The most successful variant of the EVOLUTION series is the ES44AC, where the 44 stands for the power and AC (Alternating Current) describes the equipment with AC traction motors. Over the years GE was able to sell more than 2500 locomotives of this version, 1168 of them alone to the Union Pacific Railroad, which employs the reliable workhorses throughout its network. This makes the ES44AC one of the most frequently built locomotives in the USA. |
