The EMD GP38-2 is an American four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

Electro-Motive Division Electro-Motive Diesel (abbreviated EMD) is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010. Electro-Motiv ...

. Part of the EMD Dash 2 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. 51 of these locomotives were produced for the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

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

1,851 examples of this locomotive model were built for American railroads and industrial concerns, 206 for Canadian railroads and industrials, 156 for Mexican railroads and industrials, and 1 export unit for the Saudi Railways Organization. A total of 51 GP38-2s were built with high-short-hoods containing

steam generators A steam generator is a form of low water-content boiler (steam generator), boiler, similar to a flash steam boiler. The usual construction is as a spiral coil of water-tube boiler, water-tube, arranged as a single, or monotube boiler, monotube, c ...

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

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into th ...

and the substitution of twin

Roots blower The Roots blower is a positive displacement lobe pump which operates by pumping a fluid with a pair of meshing lobes resembling a set of stretched gears. Fluid is trapped in pockets surrounding the lobes and carried from the intake side to th ...

s. 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. Union Pacific has rebuilt 167 of their GP38-2's into GP38N's at their Jenk's shop. These units received a microprocessor control system to increase adhesion, control options, and extend the life of the locomotive.

Preservation

A relatively small amount of GP38-2s are in preservation, with all being ex- Southern, and all operating on tourist lines. * Colebrookdale Railroad #5128, built as a Southern subsidiary Georgia Southern and Florida Railroad locomotive, is in a patched NS scheme and is operating excursions on the line. * Southern Railway #5000, the very first GP38-2 built, is preserved in operating condition, and sometimes operates excursion trains at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. It was traded from Progress Rail with

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

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

Central of Georgia Railway The Central of Georgia Railway started as the Central Rail Road and Canal Company in 1833. As a way to better attract investment capital, the railroad changed its name to Central Rail Road and Banking Company of Georgia. This railroad was constr ...

locomotive, is in black with ‘TVRM’ logos on 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
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