by JayBee
GE has converted a BNSF Dash-9-44CW to AC traction with A1A trucks, like the ES44C4. BNSF 616 (ex-Santa Fe) was noted northbound on KCS through Heavener, OK as a trailing locomotive.
Railroad Forums
Moderators: MEC407, AMTK84
Allen Hazen wrote: (I should look at the other two to see if we have a good view of the left side of the unit: Dash-9 don't have the big box for the inverters behind the cab that AC44 have, and that is a standard feature of the ES carbody even on DC units.)Yes, that box is visible in the second video.
The 616 is classed as a C44-9WT0 by BNSF right now. It still shows in the computer as having DC traction motors. It is in KC now for set up for testing so that might get updated, I am not sure yet. It has four traction motors like the rest of the ES44C4 Fleet with the extra cylinders that are weight management cylinders to take some weight off the middle axle when the engine is under heavy load so the other four axles do not slip as much.(I'm also told that the "T0" stands for Tier 0 and is just an internal company designation; it doesn't mean anything about the rebuild/modifications. Apparently they also have a lot of Dash 9s that are internally classified as C44-9WT1, meaning they meet Tier 1 emission standards.)
MEC407 wrote:It'll be interesting to see what BNSF ends up calling it. "AC44C4" seems like a possibility.According to a post by Mark Gillings on LocoNotes, the locomotive is now designated "AC44C4M"