The C30-7 is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems between September 1976 and May 1986 as an updated U30C with a 16-cylinder FDL-series diesel engine. 1,137 were built for North American railroads. GE's successor to the C30-7 was the C36-7, early versions of which were quite similar to the C30-7.

Variants

C30-7A

A variant of the C30-7, 50 GE C30-7As were purchased by

Conrail Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...

in mid-1984. Externally similar to the GE C30-7 model, six tall hood doors per side (in place of eight) showed it had a 12-cylinder (rather than 16-cylinder) prime mover. Both engines produced but the C30-7A's smaller engine used less fuel. The C30-7A units were built between May and June 1984. Chicago Freight Car Leasing Australia purchased twelve former Conrail C30-7A locomotives in 2001 and used their traction components in the rebuilding of 442 class locomotives as the GL class. These entered service in Australia from 2003. In December 2018, Brazil’s only surviving C30-7A was restored in time for use on a holiday train.

Original owners

Use in Estonia

In 2003 19 C30-7As were rebuilt and exported to Estonia as C30-7Ais to be used by EVR (

Eesti Raudtee Eesti Raudtee or EVR is the national railway infrastructure company of Estonia. It owns a network of of broad gauge () railway throughout the country, including the used by the Elron commuter trains around Tallinn. Its sole shareholder is the ...

) which at that time was privately owned. The locos were numbered as part of Class 1500 (1558–1576) and were second-hand from Conrail/CSX/NS (USA). In 2018,

Operail AS Operail (former name: AS EVR Cargo) is a railway logistics company located in Tallinn, Estonia. Its sole shareholder is the Government of Estonia. History The company was established as ''EVR Cargo'' in 2009; initially, it was structured a ...

(formerly

EVR Cargo AS Operail (former name: AS EVR Cargo) is a railway logistics company located in Tallinn, Estonia. Its sole shareholder is the Government of Estonia. History The company was established as ''EVR Cargo'' in 2009; initially, it was structured a ...

) announced it had completed its first conversion of the series with #1564. ''

International Railway Journal The ''International Railway Journal'' (IRJ) is a monthly international trade magazine published by Simmons-Boardman Publishing in Falmouth, England. History Founded by Robert Lewis and ''Railway Age'' editor Luther Miller as the world's first ...

'' reported, "Only the frames and bogies of the original locomotive were retained and the C30-M features a new centrally-positioned driver’s cab and a 1.55MW Caterpillar 3512C HD diesel engine." The converted unit has a 1520mm track gauge and weighs 138 tonnes. Operail's redesign makes the units suitable for shunting and line haul. The redesigned units are planned for internal use and export sales.

References

* * *Diesel Era Volume 3 Number 3 May/June 1992 General Electric C30-7 by Warren Calloway pages 13-34.

External links