The EMD GP38 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and December 1971. The locomotive's prime mover was an EMD 645 16-cylinder engine that generated . The company built 706 GP38s for North American railroads.
In 1972, EMD began making an updated model, the GP38-2, as part of its Dash-2 line.
Original orders Railroad Quantity Numbers NotesAberdeen and Rockfish Railroad1400Altos Hornos de México4130-131, 135-136Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway613500-3560Rebuilt to GP38us and renumbered to 2300-2360, To BNSFBaltimore and Ohio Railroad703800-3849, 4800-4819To CSX 2000–2049, 2100-2119Bangor and Aroostook Railroad881-88Burlington Northern Railroad62072-2077Ordered as SP&S 200-205, To BNSFChesapeake and Ohio Railway603850-3899, 4820-4829To CSX 2050–2099, 2120-2129Clinchfield Railroad102000-2009To Seaboard System then CSX 2180-2189Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad7200-206To GTW 6200-6206. Units 200-204 part of cancelled Maine Central orderErie Mining Company2700-701Ferrocarriles Unidos del Sureste2512-513Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad20701-720To Illinois Central Gulf then Illinois Central Railroad 9520-9539Louisville and Nashville Railroad204000-4019To Seaboard System 6221–6240, then renumbered to 2130–2149, then to CSXMaine Central Railroad13251-263252 & 254 To B&M after Guilford merger. 252 & 255 now at Conway Scenic. 4 units ordered but never delivered and sold to DT&IMissouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad4300-303 To Union PacificMissouri Pacific Railroad6572-577Monongahela Railway52000-2004 To ConrailNorfolk Southern Railway (1942–1982)72001-2007To Southern Railway renumbered 2880-2886Penn Central Transportation Company2657675-7939Biggest order of GP38s, to Conrail same numbers, and then to Norfolk Southern 2880 and 2885-2957 and CSX Transportation 1950–1998, Rest to various short lines.Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines152000-2014Built with dual control stands and an extended cab face. To Conrail 7660–7674, and then Norfolk Southern 2943-2957 Phelps Dodge Corporation847-54Southern Railway1072716-2822Built with high hoods. To NS with original numbersTennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway180To Southern then NS 2879Texas Mexican Railway4857-860Totals 706
Rebuilds
A number of GP38s have been rebuilt into the equivalent of a GP38-2.
Conversely, a number of higher horsepower 40 Series locomotives have been rebuilt into the equivalent of a GP38-2 (GP38AC), by the removal of the turbocharger and the substitution of twin Roots blowers.
In 2007, Norfolk Southern rebuilt #2911 which is an ex Penn Central GP38 into an experimental zero-emissions Battery-Electric locomotive known as the Altoona Works BP4. The new locomotive was renumbered as NS #999. It has since been sold to Rail Propulsions Systems, where it was upgraded for eventual use in the Los Angeles Basin region.
Preservation
Baltimore & Ohio #3802 is preserved at the National Museum of Railroad History & Innovation in Baltimore, Maryland. It has been restored in its Chessie System paint scheme and is operational. Maine Central (MEC) #252 and #255 operate on the Conway Scenic Railroad as their #252 and #255 respectively. #255 was acquired in 2021. Both units wear the Conway Scenic's paint scheme. Penn Central 7706 is preserved on the West Chester Railroad as their 7706. It operates on tourist trains on the former PRR line. It wears the West Chester Railroad's paint scheme. Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines 2000, is preserved on the Cape May Seashore Lines in Tuckahoe, New Jersey. Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia Railway (TAG) 80, is preserved in operating condition at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
See also List of GM-EMD locomotives List of GMD Locomotives
References
Sarberenyi, Robert. EMD GP38 and GP38AC Original Owners
External links