EMD GP38
The EMD GP38 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. The locomotive's prime mover was an EMD 645 16-cylinder engine that generated. The company built 706 GP38s for North American railroads.
In 1972, EMD began making an updated model, the GP38-2, as part of its Dash-2 line.
Original orders
Rebuilds
A number of GP38s have been rebuilt into the equivalent of a GP38-2.Conversely, a number of higher horsepower 40 Series locomotives have been rebuilt into the equivalent of a GP38-2, by the removal of the turbocharger and the substitution of twin Roots blowers.
In 2007, Norfolk Southern rebuilt #2911 which is an ex Penn Central GP38 into an experimental zero-emissions Battery-Electric locomotive known as the Altoona Works BP4. The new locomotive was renumbered as NS #999. It has since been sold to Rail Propulsions Systems, where it was upgraded for eventual use in the Los Angeles Basin region.
Preservation
- Conway Scenic Railroad 252, built as Maine Central 252, is preserved and operates on excursions on the former MEC Notch Route.
- Conway Scenic Railroad 255, built as Maine Central 255, was acquired in October 2021 and serves alongside 252.
- Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway 80, is preserved in operational condition at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum.
- West Chester Railroad 7706, built as Penn Central 7706, is preserved and operates on tourist trains on the former PRR line.
- Chessie System 3802, built as Baltimore & Ohio 3802, is preserved and operates at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
- Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines 2000, is preserved on the Cape May Seashore Lines in Tuckahoe, New Jersey.