Meeting North

About the Author

— Robby Lefkowitz

From when I was six years when my dad first introduced me to Horseshoe Curve and other places on the NS Pittsburgh line, to now as a 20 year old, I have always loved trains. This summer I became interested in photographing them with a camera

About the Locomotive Class

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.

Photo Blurb

NS 4186 is a class GE AC44C6M and is pictured in Arcadia, Virginia, USA. This was taken along the NS Hagerstown District/line on the Norfolk Southern Railway. Photo Copyright: Robby Lefkowitz uploaded to Railroad Gallery on 02/07/2023. This photograph of NS 4186 was taken on Monday, February 06, 2023. All Rights Reserved.