EMD GP39
Copper Basin Railway #505 at Hayden, Arizona in 2010.
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
ModelGP39
Build dateJune 1969 - July 1970
Total produced23
Specifications
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Prime moverEMD 645
Engine typeV12 diesel engine
Cylinders12
Performance figures
Power output2,300 hp (1.72 MW)
Career
LocaleUnited States

The EMD GP39 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between June 1969 and July 1970. The GP39 was a derivative of the GP38 equipped with a turbocharged EMD 645E3 12-cylinder engine which generated 2,300 hp (1.72 MW).[1][2]

23 examples of this locomotive model were built for American railroads.[3]

Burlington Northern Railway later rebuilt GP30 and GP35 locomotives that it classified as GP39s, but they were not built as such by GM/EMD.

Production history

Twenty of the original 23 were built for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, while the other buyers were Kennecott Copper (2) and Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay (1).[3]

GP39DC

Two examples of the GP39 were built as GP39DC locomotives in June 1970. These used a DC main generator instead of the alternator used on the standard GP39 units, but were otherwise identical. 2 examples of this locomotive model were built for Kennecott Copper Company as 1 and 2, later sold to Copper Basin Railway as 401 and 402.

Successor

Though the GP39 was not a popular locomotive, EMD later revisited the idea of a turbocharged GP38 with its GP39-2 in 1974.[4]

Original owners

Railroad Quantity Road Numbers Notes
Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay 1 507 to VMV 507, then Paducah & Louisville 8507
Chesapeake & Ohio 20 3900-3919 to CSXT 4280-4299, all retired
Kennecott Copper 2 1-2 to Copper Basin Railway 401-402
Totals23

See also

References

  1. ↑ Marre, Louis A. & Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1989). The Contemporary Diesel Spotter's Guide. Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-89024-088-4. LCCN 88083625. OCLC 19959644.
  2. ↑ Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-026-7.
  3. 1 2 Sarberenyi, Robert. "EMD GP39 Original Owners". Diesel Locomotive Rosters. Retrieved August 27, 2006.
  4. ↑ McDonnell, Greg (2002). Field guide to modern diesel locomotives. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 108–113. ISBN 0-89024-607-6. OCLC 50411517.

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