AC44CW

The benchmark for modern railroad freight motive power in North America today is the 4,000+ horsepower, A.C. traction, and six axles – and it was largely the landmark General Electric AC4400CW, introduced in 1993, that helped establish that standard.

Constructed at General Electric’s Erie (Pennsylvania) manufacturing facility and powered by GE’s efficient and proven 16-cylinder, four-cycle FDL-series power plant (Engine), the 4,400-horsepower AC4400CW quickly became a successful railroad workhorse nationwide, with more than 2,500 units produced through 2004. Among the largest users of the AC4400CW is CSX, which operates a fleet of more than 600 of the powerful locomotives system-wide. Put to work in all types of mainline service, the big GE diesels, which weigh in at over 400,000 pounds, regularly can be seen hauling tonnage over the Alleghenies and across the famed Sand Patch Grade.