The GE C39-8 is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive model built by GE Transportation Systems between 1984 and 1987. It is part of the GE Dash 8 Series of freight locomotives. A total of 161 examples of this locomotive were built for two North American railroads: Conrail and Norfolk Southern Railway. The C39-8 was a fairly unpopular locomotive with crews, cited factors such as a rough ride, tendency to overheat, frequent turbocharger issues, issues with the fuel injection system, and various other reliability issues.

Technical

The C39-8 is powered by a 3900 hp V16 7FDL-16 diesel engine driving a GE GMC187A2 main alternator. The power generated by the main alternator drove 6 GE 752AG traction motors, each with a gear ratio of 83:20 and connected to 40 in wheels which allowed the C39-8 a maximum speed of 70 mph. Depending on customer options, the C39-8 carried between 3900 to 4500 USgal of diesel fuel, 360 to 400 USgal of lubricating oil, and 380 to 420 USgal of coolant. Like most North American diesel locomotives, the C39-8 uses normal water for cooling. The C39-8 has a maximum tractive effort of 108600 lbf at 10.8 mi/h.

Original owners

Current use

Apart from Norfolk Southern's test bed, Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad's former Norfolk Southern 8212 (née Conrail 6021) is the last C39-8 in active use in North America. 15 Norfolk Southern units were sold to Peru's Ferrocarril Central Andino (FCCA) after RDC acquired a significant part of the company in 1999. Many of them have been rebuilt by shortening the radiators.