The demise of the Norfolk Southern 4,000 Horsepower GE Dash 9's and ES40DC's

jordon412

33 Year Old Railfan
Well it looks like Norfolk Southern has decided to join all the other railroads with Dash 9's and DC Evo's: they're upgrading all their Dash 9-40C's, Dash 9-40CW's and ES40DC's from 4,000 horsepower to 4,400 horsepower next time they're in the shops for maintenance. This will make them Dash 9-44C's, Dash 9-44CW's and ES44AC's, leaving only the Dash 8-40C and the Dash 8-40CW as the only GE locomotives that will stay at 4,000 horsepower. This will result in the only Dash 9 model that is not equipped with the wide-nose cab, Dash 9-44C. Their EMD SD70's, SD70M's and SD70M-2's will stay at 4,000 horsepower, for now.
 
This will result in the only Dash 9 model that is not equipped with the wide-nose cab, Dash 9-44C.

not really, they are already the only Dash 9 models with a standard cab. changing the software to upgrade them to 4400 hp does nothing to change this. All of the Dash 9s as delivered were 4400 hp, NS just chose to derate them to 4000 for less wear and tear on the blocks.
 
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There was also something going around about 5800 hp Evo engines going in the AC60s which I was never able to prove or disprove.
 
There was also something going around about 5800 hp Evo engines going in the AC60s which I was never able to prove or disprove.

You're right. CSX is replacing the 7HDL engines in their AC6000CW (CW60AC as CSX call them) with GEVO-16 engines. Information comes from Trains Magazine's Locomotives 2013 special issue, page 31, which I got the Tuesday of this week (October 8th, 2013).
 
Update 8/27/2014

Norfolk Southern's ES40DC's are no more. ES40DC #7563, the last ES40DC, has been upgraded to 4,400 horsepower. Some of the locomotives have had their model designation changed on the sides of their cabs, some have not.
 
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