Untimely Clouds - As it often happens, clouds moved in right before the train passed and cleared after it was done. Nonetheless, I’ll take a decent drone picture of the first NS AC44C6M in any conditions.
Railroad
Norfolk Southern
Class
GE AC44C6M
Road Number
NS 4000
Line/Subdivision
Christiansburg District
Location
Salem, Virginia, USA
Date Taken
August 17, 2023
Date Uploaded
August 16, 2024
Views
62
Favorites
Hot Shot
50 Views
Untimely Clouds - As it often happens, clouds moved in right before the train passed and cleared after it was done. Nonetheless, I’ll take a decent drone picture of the first NS AC44C6M in any conditions.
I’m a college student at George Mason University with a passion for constantly improving my railroad photography and challenging myself with new and exciting adventures.
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 4000 is a class GE AC44C6M and is pictured in Salem, Virginia, USA. This was taken along the Christiansburg District on the Norfolk Southern. Photo Copyright: RF&P Productions uploaded to Railroad Gallery on 08/16/2024. This photograph of NS 4000 was taken on Thursday, August 17, 2023. All Rights Reserved.
