More EMD prime movers for commuter service.

What kind of power is being used for HEP plants? Would these be 3400/3500 series Cats, Cummins N or K or Detroits?

I'm pretty sure the HEP gensets use Cat engines. Not sure of the specific model.

Two commonly applied separate HEP engines presently used in 500KW to 600KW range are the Cummins K-19 inline six cylinder and the Caterpillar 3412 which, as the model designation implies, is a V-12 arrangement. Other Cummins and CAT models have also been used in this type of service, depending on the preferences of the owners. Detroit Diesels are pretty rare in this type of service in the last few years. The folks that still have lots of Detroit Diesels are the telephone companies, as there was a family of standard AT&T emergency generator sets that used these engines, and were built over many years in very large numbers.

[i]The "645FZ" crankcase which GE now markets, originated back in the mid-1990s when EMD refused to sell parts to MK Rail (Boise Locomotive) because they were producing new locomotives (MK1200G and MK5000C), and in response MK assembled a team to find replacements for almost every significant component in the EMD product. [/i]


Actually MK Rail looked for the lowest price engine it could find. Since they make some EMD engine replacement parts, they used an engine that they could use their parts on. Some of the engine parts (various housings, air ducts, gaskets, etc) actually are genuine EMD parts, bought through rebuild replacement suppliers or indirectly from EMD via subsidiaries.

Yes, Power Parts in Chicago was already a major supplier of aftermarket parts to the railroads when they became part of the MKR/Motivepower family of companies, and their acquisition provided many of the needed components. They also acquired a number of other companies which manufactured parts for locomotives, some of which were suppliers to Electro-Motive. The other items that they needed to complete their engines were sourced wherever they could purchase them, as you noted.

Electro-Motive which probably lost a great deal of business by their mid-90s decision to cut off sales to MK Rail, subsequently reconsidered the policy. The cut-off of parts sales to MK lasted a couple years and was very strange when you consider that for many years EMD had sold traction motor and generator parts to various electrical equipment rebuilders and service centers so that they could work on EMD electrical rotating equipment, competing with EMD's own UTEX and rebuild services.