General Electric Genesis (officially

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from ot ...

ed GENESIS) is a series of passenger diesel

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...

s produced by

GE Transportation GE Transportation is a 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 railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generati ...

, then a subsidiary of

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 ene ...

. Between 1992 and 2001, a total of 321 units were built for

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. ...

Metro-North Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority_of_the__is_a_type_of_Nonprofit_organization">nonprofit_corporation_char ...

, and

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

. The Genesis series of locomotives was designed by General Electric in response to a specification published by

and ultimately selected over a competing design presented by

Electro-Motive Diesel 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 s ...

(EMD). Until the introduction of the Siemens Charger, the Genesis series had the lowest height of any North American diesel-electric locomotives, being lower than the previous-generation F40PH. This low height allows the locomotive to travel easily through low-profile tunnels in the

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, ...

Technical design

The GE Genesis series is unique among recently manufactured North American passenger locomotives in that it uses a single,

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

carbody design styled by industrial designer Cesar Vergara, thus making it lighter, more aerodynamic, and more fuel efficient than its predecessors ( F40PH, F59PH, P30CH, P32-BWH). However, this makes it more costly and time-consuming to maintain and repair. In 2004, Amtrak started installing bolt-on nose cones on its units for easy replacement in the event of a

grade crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term a ...

collision with a vehicle. As an example of the improvements over the predecessor locomotives, the Genesis is 22% more fuel-efficient than the F40PH while producing 25% more horsepower. In addition, all Genesis locomotives have

four-stroke engine A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...

s instead of the

two-stroke engines A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

previously used in EMD counterparts. The Genesis unit is a fully computerized locomotive which automatically controls all on-board functions, thus producing high reliability while keeping the maintenance requirements low. For example, its computers can automatically reduce the power plant's output in the event that the locomotive is overheating, or suffering from low oil pressure, low water pressure, or reduced airflow into the intakes, thus making it still operable. All Genesis engines can provide head-end power (HEP) to the train drawn from an alternator or

inverter A power inverter, inverter or invertor is a power electronic device or circuitry that changes direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). The resulting AC frequency obtained depends on the particular device employed. Inverters do the opp ...

powered by the main engine at a maximum rating of , making each unit capable of providing HEP for up to 16 Superliner railcars. The P40DC and P42DC power plants can supply 60-hertz head-end power either from the HEP alternator with the engine speed-locked to 900 rpm (normal mode) or from the traction alternator with the engine speed-locked to 720 rpm (standby mode). In the latter case, traction power is unavailable. The P32AC-DM powerplant does not have to be locked at a certain rpm because it utilizes an HEP inverter, which allows the

prime mover Prime mover may refer to: Philosophy *Unmoved mover, a concept in Aristotle's writings Engineering * Prime mover (engine), motor, a machine that converts various other forms of energy (chemical, electrical, fluid pressure/flow, etc) into energy ...

to run at 1047 rpm when providing both traction power and HEP, and to idle at 620 rpm (or notch three) while still providing HEP for lighting and air-conditioning when not providing traction power. The trucks of Genesis locomotives were made by Krupp Verkehrstechnik, which has since been absorbed by

Siemens Mobility Siemens Mobility GmbH is a separately-managed company of Siemens, arising from a corporate restructuring effective 1 August 2018. With its global headquarters in Munich, Siemens Mobility has four core business units: Mobility Management, dedi ...

; the trucks on the newest Genesis locomotives carry the Siemens name.

Models

Three models of Genesis were built by General Electric, the P40DC, P42DC, and P32AC-DM.

P40DC

The P40DC (''GENESIS Series I'') or Dash 8-40BP (originally known as the AMD-103 or Amtrak Monocoque Diesel - 103MPH) is the first model in the Genesis series, built in 1993. The locomotive operates in a diesel-electric configuration that uses DC to power the

traction motor A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit. Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles ( electric multip ...

s, producing output at 1047 rpm. Power output to the traction motors is when running in HEP mode (900 rpm) with a 0 kW HEP load. Traction horsepower in HEP mode decreases to a bare minimum of when providing the maximum HEP load to the train. The P40DC is geared for a maximum speed of . The P40DC was succeeded in 1996 by the P42DC. A feature unique to the P40DC and P32AC-DM is a

hostler A hostler or ostler is a groom or stableman, who is employed in a stable to take care of horses, usually at an inn. In the twentieth century the word came to be used in railroad industry for a type of train driver. Etymology The word is spelled ...

stand at the rear of the locomotive providing increased visibility and reversing capabilities to the engineer while conducting reverse operations. When a unit is in operation from this stand it is limited to and a

dead man's switch A dead man's switch (see alternative names) is a switch that is designed to be activated or deactivated if the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death, loss of consciousness, or being bodily removed from control. Originally a ...

protects against movement without an operator being present. Another unique feature to the original P40DC were the two strobes above the cab and an emergency flasher between the strobes. When they were overhauled, those features were removed. Both the P40DC and P42DC allowed Amtrak to operate heavy long-distance trains with fewer locomotives compared to the older

EMD F40PH The EMD F40PH is a four-axle B-B diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in several variants from 1975 to 1992. Intended for use on Amtrak's short-haul passenger routes, it became the backbone of Amtrak's ...

locomotives; two P40DCs could do the same work as three F40PHs. Additional deliveries of the P42DC ended up replacing the P40DCs. Three units were wrecked (819 in the

1993 Big Bayou Canot train wreck On September 22, 1993, an Amtrak train derailed on the CSX Transportation Big Bayou Canot Bridge near Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was caused by displacement of a span and deformation of the rails when a tow of heavy barges collided with th ...

and 807 and 829 in the

1999 Bourbonnais, Illinois, train crash On March 15, 1999, Amtrak's southbound ''City of New Orleans'' passenger train collided with a semi-trailer truck in the village of Bourbonnais, Illinois, United States. Most of the train derailed, killing eleven people. A National Transportat ...

) and scrapped. Eight were leased and later sold to the Connecticut DOT for

Shore Line East Shore Line East (SLE) is a commuter rail service which operates along the Northeast Corridor through southern Connecticut, United States. The rail service is a fully owned subsidiary of the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) and i ...

in 2005, and four were rebuilt and sold to

New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

in 2007; NJ Transit sold their units to ConnDOT in 2015. The remaining 29 units were placed out-of-service for many years. 15 of these units have been rebuilt using 2009 ARRA stimulus funds and returned to service, now in the Phase V livery, except for 822, which is painted in Phase III

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

livery for Amtrak's 40th Anniversary. The units that were not rebuilt or sold have since been disposed. In January 2018, ConnDOT awarded a contract to Amtrak to overhaul their twelve P40DC locomotives at the

Beech Grove Shops The Beech Grove Shops is a railway maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Indiana, outside Indianapolis. Beech Grove is Amtrak's primary maintenance facility. It also contains a very large freight yard. History The shops were originally constructe ...

. The first unit was completed in early 2021.

Upgraded and "Stimulus" P40DCs

By 2007, New Jersey Transit had upgraded their P40DC units with updated prime movers to match the of the successor P42DC. This was done by readjusting the position of the lay shafts within the prime mover. Amtrak has returned 15 of their P40DC units to service as part of a project funded through the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (), nicknamed the Recovery Act, was a stimulus package enacted by the 111th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February 2009. Developed in response to the Gr ...

. The first of the units were returned to service in March 2010 after being overhauled at the

. They were upgraded like NJT's units had been a few years before to have and match the P42DC's maximum speed of . They also received updated

cab signaling Cab signaling is a railway safety system that communicates track status and condition information to the cab, crew compartment or driver's compartment of a locomotive, railcar or multiple unit. The information is continually updated giving an e ...

systems. The upgraded locomotives still have mechanical air brakes, which makes them most suitable for trains that only require a single locomotive. This differs from the electronic air brakes on the P42DC and P32AC-DM. They also feature a

builder's plate A builder's plate is usually a metal plate that is attached to railway locomotives and rolling stock, bogies, construction equipment, trucks, automobiles, large household appliances, bridges, ships and more. It gives such information as the name o ...

indicating that they were rebuilt under the auspices of the

TIGER The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

stimulus program.

P42DC

The P42DC (''GENESIS Series I'') is the successor model to the P40DC. It has an engine output of at 1,047 rpm, or when running in HEP mode (900 rpm) with a 0 kW HEP load. Traction horsepower in HEP mode decreases to a bare minimum of when providing the full 800 kW HEP load to the train. The P42DC has a maximum speed of . Tractive effort is rated at of starting effort and of continuous effort at given wheel horsepower of . P42DCs are used primarily on most of

's long-haul and

higher-speed rail Higher-speed rail (HrSR), also known as high-performance rail, higher-performance rail, semi-high-speed rail or almost-high-speed rail, is the jargon used to describe inter-city passenger rail services that have top speeds of more than convent ...

service outside the

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

and lower

Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

Corridors. They will be replaced on long-distance service by 125 Siemens ALC-42 Charger locomotives between 2021 and 2024, but will remain in service on corridor trains.

Canada has utilized P42DC locomotives since 2001, when they replaced the LRC locomotives in 2001. They are currently on services with speeds up to , mainly on the Quebec City-Windsor rail corridor.

P32AC-DM

The P32AC-DM (''GENESIS Series II'', short for "Passenger, , Alternating Current, Dual Mode") was developed for both

and

. They can operate on power generated either by the on-board diesel prime mover or power collected from a

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 ...

electrification system at 750 volts

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or ev ...

; the third-rail shoes are used on the over-running third-rail into Penn Station for Amtrak units and the under-running third-rail into Grand Central Terminal for Metro-North. The P32AC-DM is rated at , when supplying HEP, and is geared for a maximum speed of . Tractive effort is rated at of starting effort from to and of continuous effort at given wheel horsepower of . The P32AC-DM is unique as it is equipped with GE's GEB15 AC (alternating current)

s, rather than DC (direct current) motors as used in the other subtypes. It is also only one of two modern American

electro-diesel An electro-diesel locomotive (also referred to as a dual-mode or bi-mode locomotive) is a type of locomotive that can be powered either from an electricity supply (like an electric locomotive) or by using the onboard diesel engine (like a diese ...

locomotives with third-rail capability, along with the EMD

DM30AC 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 ...

operated by 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, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average week ...

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit, and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey, along with portions of New York State and Pennsylvania. It operates bu ...

and Exo's Bombardier

ALP-45DP The Bombardier ALP-45DP is a type of single cab dual-mode locomotive built by Bombardier Transportation (later Alstom) and operated by New Jersey Transit and Exo. Operators New Jersey Transit New Jersey Transit (NJT) purchased 26 ALP-45DP ...

electro-diesel locomotive can operate from overhead catenary electrification. The P32AC-DM is only used on services operating north from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where diesel emissions through its two fully enclosed main terminal stations are prohibited. Amtrak rosters 18 P32AC-DM locomotives and uses them for its '' Empire Service'', ''

Ethan Allen Express The ''Ethan Allen Express'' is a daily passenger train operated by Amtrak in the United States between New York City and Burlington, Vermont, via Albany, New York. One daily round trip is operated on a north-south route with a 7 hour 35 minu ...

'', ''

Lake Shore Limited The ''Lake Shore Limited'' is an overnight Amtrak intercity passenger train that runs between Chicago and either New York City or Boston via two sections east of Albany. The train began service in 1975; its predecessor was Amtrak's Chicago– ...

'' (New York section), '' Adirondack'', and ''

Maple Leaf The maple leaf is the characteristic leaf of the maple tree. It is the most widely recognized national symbol of Canada. History of use in Canada By the early 1700s, the maple leaf had been adopted as an emblem by the French Canadians along th ...

'' services, all which travel to

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main intercity railroad station in New York City and the busiest transportation facility in the Western Hemisphere, serving more than 600,000 passengers ...

. Metro-North rosters 31 P32AC-DM locomotives on push-pull trains to

Grand Central Terminal Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...

; four are owned by the

Connecticut Department of Transportation The Connecticut Department of Transportation (often referred to as CTDOT and occasionally ConnDOT, or CDOT) is responsible for the development and operation of highways, railroads, mass transit systems, ports and waterways in Connecticut. ...

. 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 administratio ...

-funded $335 million contract for 27 dual-mode locomotives, based on the Siemens Charger design. The new dual mode locomotives will replace the 27 existing P32AC-DM locomotives used on Metro-North's Hudson Line,

Harlem Line The Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line, originally chartered as the New York and Harlem Railroad, is an commuter rail line running north from New York City to Wassaic, in eastern Dutchess County. The lower from Grand Central Terminal to Sou ...

, and

Danbury Branch The Danbury Branch is a diesel branch of the Metro-North Railroad New Haven Line from downtown Norwalk, Connecticut north to Danbury, mostly single-tracked. It opened in 1852 as the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad. Until the early 1970s, passenger ...

; they will use

electric power to enter

. The order includes additional options for up to 144 more locomotives, which includes 32 additional for use by Metro-North, 20 for the

New York State Department of Transportation The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is the department of the Government of New York (state), New York state government responsible for the development and operation of highways, Rail transport, railroads, mass transit systems ...

(for Amtrak '' Empire Service'' trains), and 20 for the

Original owners

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ge Genesis B-B locomotives Amtrak locomotives

P32AC-DM General Electric Genesis (officially trademarked GENESIS) is a series of passenger diesel locomotives produced by GE Transportation, then a subsidiary of General Electric. Between 1992 and 2001, a total of 321 units were built for Amtrak, Metro- ...

Metro-North Railroad Via Rail locomotives NJ Transit Rail Operations

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

Passenger locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1992 Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Bo-Bo locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of Canada