The GE AC4400CW, sometimes referred as "AC44CW" is a
diesel-electric locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conv ...
that was built by
GE Transportation Systems
GE Transportation is a Division (business), division of Wabtec. It was known as GE Rail and owned by General Electric until sold to Wabtec on February 25, 2019. The organization manufactures equipment for the Rail transport, railroad, marine, mi ...
between 1993 and 2004. It is like the
Dash 9-44CW, but features AC traction motors instead of DC, with a separate inverter per motor. In appearance, the AC4400CW is somewhat similar to GE's more powerful locomotive, the
AC6000CW.
Over the 11 years in which it was produced, GE constructed 2,834 examples for North American railroads. In 2005, all
Class I freight railroads except
Norfolk Southern
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...
and
Canadian National
The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...
owned at least one AC4400CW.
Norfolk Southern
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway (U.S.), Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the ...
ordered the very similar
C40-9W
The GE Dash 9-40CW is a diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems of Erie, Pennsylvania, between January 1996 and December 2004. 1,090 were built for Norfolk Southern Railway, as road numbers 8889 to 9978. 53 GE Dash 8-44CWs ...
s. As a result of more stringent emissions requirements that came into effect on January of that year, GE no longer offers the AC4400CW, replacing it with the
ES44AC
The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems (now owned by Wabtec), initially designed to meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. The first pre-production ...
.
Design variations
The AC4400CW was the first GE locomotive to offer an optional
self-steering truck design, intended to increase adhesion and reduce wear on the railhead. This option was specified by
Canadian Pacific
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
,
Cartier Railway
The Cartier Railway (formerly CFC and QCM) is a privately owned railway that operates of track in the Canadian province of Québec.
It is operated by the Cartier Railway Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arcelor Mittal, formerly Québe ...
,
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
for their units 200-599,
Ferromex
Ferromex ( syllabic abbreviation of Ferrocarril Mexicano or "Mexican Railway") is a private rail consortium that operates the largest (by mileage) railway in Mexico with combined mileage (Ferromex + Ferrosur) of and is part of the North Americ ...
,
Ferrosur
The Ferrocarril del Sureste , commonly known as Ferrosur, is a railway that serves the southeastern regions of Mexico. The company was formed in 1998 following the privatization of Mexico's railways. Ferrosur took over the southeast concession. ...
, and
KCS.
CSX ordered many of its AC4400CW locomotives with extra weight to increase tractive effort. These same units were also modified in 2006-2007 with a "high tractive effort" software upgrade and redesignated CW44AH.
Rebuilds
In 2017
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
requested that
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...
modernize 30 of its 9500 and 9600-series AC4400CW units. The original units had the original front cab completely removed and upgraded to current GE standards with upgraded electrical systems including PTC and FTO systems. Other improvements GE has made include up to 10 percent fuel efficiency gains, 40 percent increase in reliability and 50 percent increase in haulage ability. The units were subsequently placed into service with the designation AC4400CWM (for Modernized). The first batch of rebuilds (8100-8129) also had their original Steerable trucks replaced with GEs High Adhesion trucks, where later batches each individual engine kept the trucks they already had.
The following year Canadian Pacific asked GE to similarly rebuild several more batches for a total of 110 locomotives. The second order (8130-8144) retains their steerable trucks. The third batch (8000-8064) will feature an Evolution Series sized fuel tank and radial trucks. In 2019 a fourth batch of rebuilds happened, 8145-8160 & 8064-8080 from the 95/9600-series. In 2021 both the 8500 series is slated to be rebuilt at 8201-8280 and the 8100-series be completed.
Union Pacific ordered many of their AC4400CWs with Controlled Tractive Effort software, giving them the designation of AC4400CW-CTE. This software package is now standard on a portion of their
ES44AC
The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems (now owned by Wabtec), initially designed to meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. The first pre-production ...
s as well. CTE limits tractive effort to mimic TE level of Dash series locomotives.
In 2018
Union Pacific
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
placed a small order for 20 rebuilds from GE of their AC4460AC fleet and later announced over the next fifteen years they will be upgrading 1000 of their AC4460ACs and AC44s into what they call a C44ACM. Unlike CP, the original 20 rebuilds did not receive a new crew cab.
CSX and
Wabtec
Wabtec Corporation (derived from Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation) is an American company formed by the merger of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company (WABCO) and MotivePower Industries Corporation in 1999. It is headquartered ...
have announced a partnership in rebuilding CSX's large AC4400CW fleet. An initial batch of 10 CW44ACs were rebuilt at Wabtec's
Erie
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
facility, with 40 more to follow into 2020. The rebuilds will be numbered in the 7000, 7200, and 7500 series and CSX is referring to them as CM44ACs.
Operators
AC4400CW owners and operators past and present include:
In popular culture
The plot of the movie
''Unstoppable'' required
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...
and
Chris Pine
Chris Pine (born August 26, 1980) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' reboot film series (2009–present), Steve Trevor in the DC Extended Universe films ''Wonder Woman'' (2017) and ''Won ...
to climb aboard the lead locomotive of a runaway freight train. To film the movie, four Canadian Pacific AC4400CW locomotives (numbers 9777, 9758, 9782, and 9751), were repainted as two fictional "Allegheny and West Virginia Railroad" locomotives (nos. 777 (nicknamed "Triple 7") and 767). 9777 and 9782 were painted as 777, while 9758 and 9751
were painted as 767.
References
{{GE diesels
Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States
General Electric locomotives
C-C locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1993
Freight locomotives
Standard gauge locomotives of Canada
Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Standard gauge locomotives of Mexico
Diesel-electric locomotives of Canada
Diesel-electric locomotives of Mexico