Elkhorn Grade - An NS westbound manifest splits the cut at North Fork, WV during the tail end of fall. This train is battling the challenging Elkhorn Grade between Bluefield and Iaeger.
Railroad
Norfolk Southern
Class
GE AC44C6M
Road Number
NS 4387
Line/Subdivision
NS Pocahontas District
Location
North Fork, West Virginia, USA
Date Taken
November 06, 2021
Date Uploaded
November 19, 2022
Views
220
Favorites
Hot Shot
200 Views
Elkhorn Grade - An NS westbound manifest splits the cut at North Fork, WV during the tail end of fall. This train is battling the challenging Elkhorn Grade between Bluefield and Iaeger.
Roots blown 645 > everything else
GE AC44C6M
The GE AC44C6M is a refurbished Dash 9 locomotive from GE Transportation Systems that has 4,400 horsepower (3,300 kW) of AC-traction. Since September 2015, GE (now Wabtec), American Motive Power, Inc., and Norfolk Southern Railway's Juniata and Roanoke Shops have been doing AC44C6M rebuilds. The AC44C6M replaces the Dash 9's DC traction motors with alternating current GE 5GEB13B7 traction motors while keeping the 16-cylinder 7FDL-16 prime mover that was previously used in the core locomotive. The rebuilds still contain the original Dash 9 units' underframe, engine, and radiator compartments, but they have new wide-nosed cabins, a new front hood section, and a new inverter cabinet. The cost of converting a vintage Dash 9 locomotive into an AC44C6M is only 50–60% of purchasing a brand new Tier-4 Compliant locomotive. In comparison to an un-rebuilt Dash 9, the AC44C6M is found to have an improvement of 17% in fuel efficiency, 30% improvement in reliability, and a 55% improvement in haulage capability according to Wabtec.
NS 4387 is a class GE AC44C6M and is pictured in North Fork, West Virginia, USA. This was taken along the NS Pocahontas District on the Norfolk Southern. Photo Copyright: Casey Naton uploaded to Railroad Gallery on 11/19/2022. This photograph of NS 4387 was taken on Saturday, November 06, 2021. All Rights Reserved.
