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 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 wheels which allowed the C39-8 a maximum speed of .
Depending on customer options, the C39-8 carried between of diesel fuel, of lubricating oil, and 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 at .
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.