The EMD GP38-2 is an American four-axle

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...

built by

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

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 ...

. Part of the

EMD Dash 2 The EMD Dash 2 is a line of diesel-electric locomotives introduced by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) on January 1, 1972. Designations of these models were those of the former models with "-2" added (e.g., the SD40 was replaced b ...

line, the GP38-2 was an upgraded version of the earlier GP38. Power is provided by an EMD 645E 16-cylinder engine, which generates 2,000 horsepower (1.5 MW).

GP38-2W

The GP38-2W is a Canadian variant of the GP38-2. It is easily distinguished by its wide-nose

Canadian comfort cab The Canadian comfort cab or wide cab or North American Safety Cab is a broad-nosed cab design found on modern North American diesel locomotives, and some export models. It occupies the entire width of the locomotive, and typically has an access ...

. 51 of these locomotives were produced for the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

during 1973–1974. Although a W is commonly suffixed to the name, it is actually an addition by enthusiasts to help specify the presence of a CN-spec comfort cab. No locomotives built using CN's design of comfort cab ever featured a W in their designation, as the presence of the cab did not mechanically alter the locomotive. This is reflected by the lack of the "W" in the model designation on the builders' plates of these units. There are snow shields above the inertial-filter central air intakes behind the cab; the electrical boxes and equipment blower behind the cab also differ in detail from a standard GP38-2. They are otherwise identical.

Original buyers

1,799 examples of this locomotive model were built for

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

railroads and industrial concerns, 257 for

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

railroads and industrials, 156 for

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

railroads and industrials, and 1 export unit for the Saudi Railways Organization. A total of 31 GP38-2s were built with high-short-hoods containing steam generators for passenger service on Mexican railways. In addition, all 257 of Southern Railway's GP38-2s had Southern's "standard" high-short-hoods.

Rebuilds

A number of higher horsepower ''40 Series'' locomotives have been rebuilt into the equivalent of a GP38-2, by removal of the

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and the substitution of twin Roots blowers. CSX and Norfolk Southern have both started replacing cabs on the aging locomotives. NS still calls them GP38-2 while CSX calls them GP38-3.

Preservation

A relatively small amount of GP38-2s are in preservation, with all being ex-

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

, and all operating on tourist lines. * Colebrookdale Railroad #5128, built as a

subsidiary GSF locomotive, is in a patched NS scheme and is operating excursions on the line. * Southern Railway #5000, the first GP38-2 ever built, is preserved in operating condition, and sometimes operates excursion trains at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. It was traded from

Progress Rail Progress Rail Services Corporation , a fully owned subsidiary of Caterpillar since 2006, is a supplier of railroad and transit system products and services headquartered in Albertville, Alabama. Founded as a recycling company in 1982, Progress R ...

with

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31, ...

#5033 in 2017. * Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum #5044, built as a

subsidiary C of G locomotive, is in black with ‘TVRM’ logos and the front and rear end. It is expected to operate excursion trains on the Hiwassee River Railroad in the near future. * Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum #5109, painted in the museum's black and red scheme with yellow striping, is preserved and is operating excursions on the Hiwassee River Railroad.

References

* Thompson, David,
EMD GP38-2 and GP38-2W Original Owners
'. * The Family Lines Rail System: Condensed List of Locomotives. 1 February 1982.

Notes

External links

US Government test of GP38-2 with biodiesel

CN GP38-2 family
{{DEFAULTSORT:EMD GP38-2 GP38-2 GP38-2 B-B locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1972 Freight locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Diesel-electric locomotives of Saudi Arabia Diesel-electric locomotives of Canada Standard gauge locomotives of Canada Standard gauge locomotives of Mexico Standard gauge locomotives of Saudi Arabia Diesel-electric locomotives of Mexico Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States pl:EMD GP38