Coal on the Columbia and Port Deposit

About the Author

— Jason Jay

I’m a rail-photographer based in Central PA, born and raised in Lancaster County. I mostly shoot the local short lines and steam ops (SRC, R&N, etc), however the Port Road Branch and Pitt Line hold a special place in my heart.

About the Locomotive Class

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.

Photo Blurb

NS 4011 is a class AC44C6M and is pictured in Washington Boro, Pennsylvania, USA. This was taken along the Keystone Div on the Norfolk Southern. Photo Copyright: Jason Jay uploaded to Railroad Gallery on 11/11/2022. This photograph of NS 4011 was taken on Tuesday, August 23, 2022. All Rights Reserved.