Finally - a GE Production Tier IV locomotive

Looks a little back end heavy.

 

Dave

 

Well, .....it looks easier to make a model of!

I like it!

Not a fan. Way too much in the back. I guess I'm just old school. 

What is the reason for the C4 truck, does the reduction in traction motors enable the use of a smaller prime mover and generator set to allow more fuel efficiency? Doesn't the locomotive lose 1/3 of the reactive effort by doing this? So then would these locos be restricted to areas with little grades?

 

So far BNSF has been the main customer for these ES44C4. The few GE Evolution locomotives that Florida East Coast recently purchased were all ES44C4. I remember going through the Locomotive annul magazine published by Trains & it appears like all the GE locomotives that BNSF ordered for each of the last maybe 5 years (can’t remember the exact number) were all ES44C4. BNSF might not have bought a new ES44AC since 2009. The newer ES44AC locomotives on their coal or taconite trains seem to be leased units from CIT leasing, in addition to their older ES44AC, AC4400CW, SD70MAC & the newer SD70ACe.

I have been seeing the ES44C4 for the last 4 years at the annual Galesburg Railroad days. The public are allowed to climb certain parts of the locomotive & take pictures seating in the engineer’s seat. There is also a GE employee (one of the around 50 GE service engineers who work on site at the BNSF Galesburg shop) who answer questions, so learnt much about this locomotive from them.

These are just my opinion,

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

I love it--it looks like the flying nun! (You have to be an old fart like me to get that reference...)

 

Jeff C

Apparently equipped with Lionel Magnetraction! Dang, those are some strong magnets!

 

My favorite road name, anything in those colors with that lettering looks great to me. I like it.

That is quite a unique look - I look forward to seeing one in action (and a model).

Good Day,

 

After searching the Internet for more information on the GE Tier IV compliant locomotives, I found something interesting................... The new BNSF Tier IV engine is not a ES44C4. Look close it is a ET44C4.

 

Regards,

Swafford

BNSF has a number of units in service with these trucks.  When driving (and pacing trains, of course!) between Clovis and Amarillo on U.S. Highway 60, I have looked over at the trucks and have sometimes seen daylight beneath the center axle.

 

BNSF has hundreds and hundreds of GE's that are similar in appearance, and the roster is not orderly as to numbering, so I have to get out the roster book to know what model I am looking at.  (No, not while driving alongside a train. )  BNSF has a commitment to purchase or lease (I think the number is 300) new GE's annually, even while storing older, less-efficient, locomotives.  Apparently, it is financially advantageous, but, to fully understand that aspect of it requires a professional knowledge of corporate finance and tax practices.

 

An interesting sidebar:  At Erie, GE has its own railroad for testing newly-manufactured locomotives.  However, the new plant at Haslet, Texas, uses the BNSF main track with BNSF crews running the locomotives under the direction of GE's testing crew, who have all kinds of probes and computer connections on the new engines, to check performance of all systems before delivery.

Here are some pictures of the current ES44C4 that I took last month at the Galesburg, IL Railroad days that show the linkages around the center axle.

These are just my opinion,

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

 

What roster book do you have? I have an older one (2012) by Paul Webster and Paul Withers, but it's becoming outdated and some things no longer match up. I haven't yet seen a newer one. Trains magazine has a roster on it's website, but I don't know how up to date it is? I can't tell them apart without looking in the book.

 

Also, you probably know this already, but I read a couple of articles on fuel usage and getting just a tenth of a mile per gallon more per engine amounts to a massive yearly savings. Forget the numbers, but they were impressive. They may save enough from using less fuel to pay for several of the new engines?

I like it! Another winner for GE. I would buy the model. 

Eh, I want to see it in CSX.

 

 

I wondering................. what the acronym ET means for BNSF on their new ET44C4?

 

Regards,

Swafford

 

Extra Traction?

Engineering Technology, 4400 THP, "C" trucks, 4 motors

Early Termination...if you wreck one.

 

Jeff C

@rtr12 I have the latest Withers publication of the BNSF 2014 roster. There was no mention of the ET44C4 in the text.

I too would buy the model today.

 

 

Not sure if I like the hump in the back, but the radiators looks cool. Does anyone know if EMD has a new design one the way? 

I doubt it.  EMD has big problems right now because their 710 two-stroke diesel engine cannot achieve Tier 4 emissions without using after treatment liquids (urea). and the big railroads don't want to use that system. 

 

Stuart

There is a newer one then, since yours is 2014. Maybe they update every 2 years? I'll watch more closely. Thanks.

 

 

EMD was not be able to meet the Tier 4 specs this year. I think Trains Magazine said it would be 2017 before they were going to release a new Tier 4 engine. 

 

(I read the article a few months ago and my memory is not what it used to be, 2017 really seems like a long time. Could have been 2016, but it certainly seems to me like they said 2017?)

Test run with two ET44C4's.........................

 

 

Found few more images of 2 more new ET44C4, BNSF 3917 & 3920.

http://meridianspeedway.weebly...f-3917-and-bnsf-3920

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Well just realized that the hump on the production Tier IV Evolution locomotives for BNSF are not as long as humps on the dark blue pre-production units. The exhaust stack on the pre-production versions seem biased towards the operator’s side.

 

These are just my opinion,

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

 

I use the BNSF Locomotive Directory 2013-2014 by Paul Wester and Paul K. Withers, published by Withers Publishing.  I bought it from McMillan Publications.  It does not have any of the new ET GE's in it, as I believe it was published just before ET's began to arrive.

 

In my younger days, I could look at an F7 and tell when it was built by identifying details, but the GE units so common on BNSF have overwhelmed me in sheer numbers, as well as the non-contiguous numbering of various locomotive groups.

Things mean something different for different people. ( or whatever the saying is).

These pics, are a modelers dream! Well, at least for me. Shots like this take the guess work out of building this stuff.

 Anyways, Thank you!

 

Thanks for the replies . That's too bad, I'll be waiting.

 

Received this from BNSF Media Dept. this morning....................

 

The following inquiry was submitted to BNSF Railway Media Center on
07/20/15
20:14 (1589054):
From : Clint Stewart (clints)
Date : 07/21/15
08:53

Hello Frank,

The best information I have found is E=
Evolution Series and T= Tier 4.
 I hope this information
helps.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

From
: Frank Swafford
Date : 07/20/15 20:14

Good Day,
I
wondering................. what the acronym ET mean for BNSF on your
new
General Electric ET44C4 diesel locomotives?

Regards,
Frank
Swafford

Thanks, I have a later version (2011-2012) of the same directory. Guess I need to update. From the dates, it looks like they may update these every 2 years. I have to have the book to figure just about all of them out.

 

With the GE's, I can tell some are different, but not what model each one is. About all I can tell for sure is the SD70ACe's are different in the rear than the GE's so I can tell if it's EMD or GE.

Thanks for finding and posting these pictures. It looks as if GE found a way to reduce the size of the "bulge" in the middle of the car body. That makes for a much more aesthetically pleasing design.

 

RM

 

I'm wondering who will be the 1st to present this in O Scale!

 

Regards,

Frank 

I have always admired Charles Biel’s high-resolution photos of BN & BNSF locomotives. Here is another photo he took of the BNSF ET44C4.

These are just my opinion,

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan