That led to its supreme control of the U.S. “It was the 567 that was the backbone of the EMD product line. The reason I’m including the 567 is it was first commercially successful two-stroke cycle production locomotive engine, and it begat the 645 engine family and then the 710 engine. “The 567 was GM and Electro-Motive’s response, if you will, to fixing the inherent flaws of the 201A. Apparently, the only component that didn’t fail was the dipstick to check the oil. After hours, crews would tear apart and rebuild the engines each night so they would reliably produce electricity the next day.
#Scrap mechanic workshop non steam full#
Iden relates a story about the Winton 201A engines, two of which powered a full automotive assembly line for General Motors’ 1939 World’s Fair.
“The reason for that is the 567 was really introduced in quantity starting in 1939 when the first FT was sent out on its demonstration trip, and it was the 567 that basically took the (predecessor engine Winton) 201A’s design defects and weaknesses more or less designed out for mass production and for better durability.” 2: Electro-Motive Division’s 567 A 16-cylinder 567 D2 diesel prime mover is shown on a shop floor. I think it was 1981 when GE sales eclipsed EMD and with the exception of I think one year after that, GE has outsold EMD every year up until the last two years where neither one has sold any new locomotives of any number.” Diesel prime movers ranked, No. And it’s also the engine that powered GE ahead of EMD starting in 1980. “It’s the engine that launched GE into the locomotive market. And that’s where they picked the Cooper-Bessemer design and made it into the GE 7FDL series, so that’s my number three. “… GE, in starting with the Cooper-Bessemer design, they did very good due diligence to find out, you know, whose engine was most suited for growth. “So you have an engine that had the growth capability to go from 2,400 to 4,400 traction horsepower, which I think is an 85% growth…” using the same basic design (but clearly upgraded through hundreds of individual component redesigns over decades of manufacturing). Wabtec also rebuilds older 7FDL engines for railroad and marine customers. Though not sold for domestic markets, the 7FDL continues in new production by Wabtec (which now owns the former GE locomotive operation) for overseas customers that request it. And the reason I include that if you go from 1960 when it was first introduced in the 16-cylinder version as 2,500 horsepower.” “And then starting in late 1961 GE started building the Cooper-Bessemer design, which is the 7FDL. After GE acquired manufacturing rights, the engine became known as the 7FDL, with “7” being GE-speak for locomotive equipment.
In Cooper’s nomenclature, “F” engines had 9” cylinder bores, “V” meant a “vee” configuration, “D” meant diesel (Cooper also made natural gas engines) and “L” implied a locomotive application. It would be the modified Cooper-Bessemer FVDL-16-T that would be placed in the first of GE’s U25B locomotives.
#Scrap mechanic workshop non steam series#
Rhoads found the “right diesel engine” in the Cooper FV series of engines. And that vision lead GE to have what would become one of the top 3 diesel prime movers. Rhoads also had a personal vision of GE becoming a domestic supplier to American railroads. Rhoads helped convince the one-time manufacturing behemoth that to be competitive and break away from selling heavier and heavier switching locomotives to countries like Brazil, GE needed to have its own engine to power its destiny. Iden says the 7FDL originated with one man, James Chrisman Rhoads, a GE employee and engineering manager at the locomotive shops in Erie, Pa. The railroads ordered and paid for those engines through Cooper-Bessemer and they paid GE for the locomotive minus the engines, and then GE installed the Cooper-Bessemer engines.” The initial U25B railroad customers (Frisco, Santa Fe, Union Pacific and Wabash) actually bought the first 42 engines and the locomotives separately. “The first U25 production units were delivered in 1961. Workers lower an engine hood over the prime mover, an FDL16, a variant of the 7FDL diesel prime mover that is Mike Iden’s No. 3: General Electric 7FDL A General Electric U25B in assembly. Here’s an edited version of that conversation. Iden spoke with in June 2022 to assess his choice for the top spots. But where do they rank? Well, that’s Mike Iden’s call. The top 3 diesel prime movers will be instantly recognizable to long-time readers of Trains magazine and its Locomotive special issues.