The GM6C was a solitary testbed
electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or g ...
for freight duties built by
General Motors'
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 ...
of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in collaboration with
ASEA
''Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget'' (English translation: General Swedish Electrical Limited Company; Swedish abbreviation: ASEA) was a Swedish industrial company.
History
ASEA was founded in 1883 by Ludvig Fredholm in Västerås a ...
of
Sweden. It was rolled out from EMD's
La Grange, Illinois plant on May 1, 1975.
Equipped with close to standard C-C HTC trucks and traction motors, it was designed for lower-speed drag freight service.
Motives
At the time, high oil prices had a number of large US railroads contemplating electrification of their most heavily used lines, while the only major US railroad with freight-hauling electrification, the
Penn Central
The Penn Central Transportation Company, commonly abbreviated to Penn Central, was an American class I railroad that operated from 1968 to 1976. Penn Central combined three traditional corporate rivals (the Pennsylvania, New York Central and the ...
, had a fleet of aging locomotives needing replacement.
Circumstances changed after the GM6C and
GM10B locomotives were developed; oil prices declined, which wiped out the interest freight railroads had in electrification, while diesel locomotive power and adhesion were improved.
Meanwhile, the bankruptcy of Penn Central led to the division of the railroad's physical plant between
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
, which inherited much of the electrified region, and
Conrail. Increased access charges on the part of Amtrak led to Conrail ceasing electric operations in 1982, dismantling the electrification on its lines and avoiding Amtrak-owned rails. The two locomotives were now surplus to requirements and were returned to EMD, remaining in the LaGrange plant's yard until scrapping in the mid 1980s.
The
BC Rail
BC Rail is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia.
Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial government in 1918. In 1972 it was renamed to the British ...
GF6C locomotives used similar technology to the GM6C but had a wide-nose cab and carbody.
References
{{EMD misc
GM06C
C-C locomotives
11 kV AC locomotives
25 kV AC locomotives
50 kV AC locomotives
Experimental locomotives
Electric locomotives of the United States
Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Railway locomotives introduced in 1975
Freight locomotives