The EMD DE30AC and DM30AC are a class of 46 locomotives built between 1997–1999 by
Electro-Motive Division
Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its sub ...
in the Super Steel Plant in
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...
, for the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
of the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...
(MTA) in New York. Originally divided equally between the two types, the fleet currently consists of 24 DE30AC locomotives (diesel power only) and 20 DM30AC locomotives (diesel or third rail power).
Details
The DE30AC and DM30AC locomotives replaced aging
GP38
The EMD GP38 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. The locomotive's prime mover was an EMD 645 16-cylinder engine that generated . The company built 70 ...
locomotives, with GP38s used to
push and pull
Push may refer to:
Music
* Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push
Albums
* ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988
* ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992
* ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 2010
Songs
* "Push" (Enrique Iglesias s ...
diesel trains and other locomotives converted into
power packs (cab control) used to provide
Head End Power
In rail transport, head-end power (HEP), also known as electric train supply (ETS), is the electrical power distribution system on a passenger train. The power source, usually a locomotive (or a generator car) at the front or 'head' of a train, p ...
for the trains. The bodies of the DE30AC and the DM30AC are extremely similar; the difference is the ability of the DM30AC to use electric third rail while the diesel engine is off, enabling the locomotive to use the
East River Tunnels
The East River Tunnels are four single-track railroad passenger service tunnels that extend from the eastern end of Pennsylvania Station under 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan and cross the East River to Long Island City in Queens. The track ...
into
New York Penn Station
Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main inter-city rail, intercity railroad station in New York City and the List of busiest railway stations in North America, busiest transportation facilit ...
. This permits direct service from non-electrified lines in eastern Long Island via the western electrified main lines all the way to Penn Station. A few such trains a day run on the
Port Jefferson
Port Jefferson (informally known as "Port Jeff") is an incorporated village in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, on the North Shore of Long Island. Officially known as the Incorporated Village of Port Jefferson, the population ...
,
Montauk, and
Oyster Bay branches, usually during peak times.
Single engines run with six cars or fewer, in which case the engine is on the east end of the train and a C3 cab car is on the west (Manhattan-facing) end. Generally, two engines are used when there are seven or more cars.
Of the original 46 locomotives, 44 are still in use. The locomotives retired include:
* DM30AC 503, which was damaged in an accident at Huntington on October 23, 2000. It hit a shopping cart on the tracks, which shorted out the
third rail
A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...
and caused the locomotive to catch fire. It sat in the LIRR's
Morris Park Facility
The Morris Park Facility is a maintenance facility of the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City. It includes two employee-only side platforms on the Atlantic Branch named Boland's Landing. Two wooden platforms each 2 cars long exist on t ...
and had been stripped for spare parts to maintain the remainder of the fleet until July 2018, when it was scrapped.
* DM30AC 511, which was damaged in an accident on May 25, 2019. It hit a 14-unit long train stopped at a siding rated for 13 units of train length, which caused the locomotive to lose a third rail shoe and sustain frame damage. It is now sitting in the
Morris Park Facility
The Morris Park Facility is a maintenance facility of the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City. It includes two employee-only side platforms on the Atlantic Branch named Boland's Landing. Two wooden platforms each 2 cars long exist on t ...
, most likely to be used for parts before being scrapped.
In addition, DM30AC 507 suffered an electrical cabinet failure. Unlike 503 and 511, it was salvaged by being converted into a DE30AC locomotive, renumbered to 423, and returned to service.
Planned replacement
In December 2020, the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...
of New York board approved a
Federal Transit Administration
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administration ...
-funded $335 million contract for 27 dual-mode locomotives, based on the
Siemens Charger
The Siemens Charger is a family of diesel-electric passenger locomotives designed and manufactured by Siemens Mobility for the North American market.
There are five variants of the Charger, tailored for different operators and types of service ...
design. The order also includes additional options for up to 144 more locomotives, of which 66 will go to the LIRR. The new locomotives will replace the older existing DE30/DM30AC locomotives in the future.
Gallery
Image:Eastbound train leaving Hunterspoint Avenue station, September 2018.JPG, DE30AC #401
Image:LIRR EMD DM30AC 515 pushing Train 8054.jpg, DM30AC #515
Image:LIRR503August2011.jpg, The remnants of engine #503 (August 2011)
Image:LIRR503StrippedCab.jpg, The cab of engine #503 (August 2011)
Image:LIRR513Cab.jpg, The cab of engine #513
LIRR Cannonball train 2798.jpg, Engine #511 on the ''Cannonball Express''
See also
*
C3 (railcar)
The C3 is a bi-level coach railroad car built by Kawasaki. These cars began delivery in 1997, ordered by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the Long Island Rail Road. The rail cars are pulled and pushed by EMD DE30AC and DM30AC over ...
References
External links
*
*
EMD DE30AC/DM30AC Sell Sheet''via Archive.org''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emd De30ac And Dm30ac
Electro-diesel locomotives
DE30AC
The EMD DE30AC and DM30AC are a class of 46 locomotives built between 1997–1999 by Electro-Motive Division in the Super Steel Plant in Schenectady, New York, for the Long Island Rail Road of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in ...
Long Island Rail Road
B-B locomotives
600 V DC locomotives
Passenger locomotives
Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States
Railway locomotives introduced in 1997
Standard gauge locomotives of the United States