GE rolls out 1000th Evolution Series loco

[MEC407]

General Electric Corporation (NYSE: GE) today announced that it is preparing to ship its 1,000th Evolution(R) Series locomotive. The milestone will be achieved just 17 months after GE began commercial production of Evolution locomotives. The 1000th unit, which bears road number 5972, will be delivered to BNSF Railway. It is one of nearly 750 Evolution locomotives ordered by BNSF, which is aggressively adding capacity to meet the growing demand for rail transportation.

Read the full press release at:

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/05/25/1659380.htm

[Allen Hazen]

Hmmm....
If I recall correctly, the 1,000th domestic U-boat was a New York Central U30B (I think there is is a photo in Alvin Stauffer's "New York Central" -- the volume covering later power). So that took six years.
Thanks for posting the link!

[SSW9389]

What are the production numbers of the current EMD Tier 2 diesels for comparison to the GEVO production. It seems GE got to 1000 units first.

[WebInfo]

What are the production numbers of the current EMD Tier 2 diesels for comparison to the GEVO production. It seems GE got to 1000 units first.

EMD is really kicking butt, why earlier this year they actually got an order--4 whole units from FEC...Yep, the boy in Eire are running scared from the "new and improved" EMD.

Actually, FEC only needed one new unit. They ordered 4 because at any given time 3 of the EMD's would be broke down.

[Allen Hazen]

And here I'd had such high hopes for a big GE order from FEC!
They actually borrowed some GE units (B307A, I think) from Southern/NS to try them out!
---
(Officially, of course, it was to try out dynamic brakes, which FEC had never had on its diesels -- Florida is not notably mountainous terrain, but still....)
;-)

[trainiax]

EMD is really kicking butt, why earlier this year they actually got an order--4 whole units from FEC...Yep, the boy in Eire are running scared from the "new and improved" EMD.

Actually, FEC only needed one new unit. They ordered 4 because at any given time 3 of the EMD's would be broke down.

...Of course, UP's SD70M's really aren't smashing reliability records with 96% availability, are they?

On a more serious note, sheer sales numbers don't tell the whole story. While GE has sold more than 1100 GEVO's, they've only distributed them among six companies, only three of which (BNSF, CP and CSX) have greatly favoured the GE's. Last I checked, EMD's new units had been ordered by 11 different companies, six of which ordered no GE's. EMD's SD70M-2 and SD70ACe orders currently total around 600 units.

[GEVO]

On a more serious note, sheer sales numbers don't tell the whole story. While GE has sold more than 1100 GEVO's, they've only distributed them among six companies, only three of which (BNSF, CP and CSX) have greatly favoured the GE's. Last I checked, EMD's new units had been ordered by 11 different companies, six of which ordered no GE's. EMD's SD70M-2 and SD70ACe orders currently total around 600 units.

GE has sold a lot more than 1,100 GEVO's. They might have just shipped the 1,000th but have orders for quite a bit more continuing into the next few years. In fact, GE would be able to sell every GEVO they could build but there are capacity issues. Don't forget, they have also been building the FDL versions in addition to these all along. 1999 was a record year. Production now and into the forseeable future looks to mimik those levels. That is good for both companies.

The GEVO FLY rate is less than 2 vs EMD's over 9. So to say one is better than the other because it has sold to more roads is also not the whole story. The smaller lines have always favored EMD. For them to change and buy a few GE's that they are not trained or tooled to work on is one of the reasons they continue to favor EMD. The big guys look at the bottom line, how much will it cost me to move my freight from point A to point B. The GEVO is more fuel efficient, has less road failures (to date), and have been to a great degree farming out their maint, so for them, the GEVO makes the most economic sence and the orders prove it. There would be even more orders going to GE vs EMD but that darn capacity issue rears it's ugly head and the roads need the power now. Competition is good though as it keeps both on their toes and will drive improvement.

UP, BNSF, NS, CP, CSX, and CN were just the first 6 to buy the GEVO. Add to that list KCS and a few others.

[RailBus63]

While GE has sold more than 1100 GEVO's, they've only distributed them among six companies, only three of which (BNSF, CP and CSX) have greatly favoured the GE's. Last I checked, EMD's new units had been ordered by 11 different companies, six of which ordered no GE's.

Those six railroads which have purchased GEVO's happen to be the six major Class 1's and I believe all have placed repeat orders. Even when EMD was delivering UP's historic SD70 order, the railroad was buying hundreds of GE's as well. I'm sure the folks at Erie feel very good about their competitive position.

JD

[trainiax]

I'm going to try and stand back without taking sides. I'm not an expert my any means but have used what information is at my disposal.

The GEVO FLY rate is less than 2 vs EMD's over 9. So to say one is better than the other because it has sold to more roads is also not the whole story.

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is a FLY rate? I commend GE for their success with the GEVO and was not trying to discount it--I just wanted to break away from sheer sales figures.

The GEVO is more fuel efficient, has less road failures (to date), and have been to a great degree farming out their maint, so for them, the GEVO makes the most economic sence and the orders prove it.

I can't speak for real-world figures, but from throwing around a few figures last year the fuel efficiency difference appeared to be minimal.

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=9480

As for reliability, the majority of complaints I heard at first were about the ACe, but recently they've been about GEVO's on the CSX and CP. I think it's early to make predictions, as *traditionally* EMD's have aged more gracefully.

Those six railroads which have purchased GEVO's happen to be the six major Class 1's and I believe all have placed repeat orders. Even when EMD was delivering UP's historic SD70 order, the railroad was buying hundreds of GE's as well. I'm sure the folks at Erie feel very good about their competitive position.

I won't argue with that, although I do give EMD credit for making some headway on the NS and BNSF.

[WebInfo]

EMD is really kicking butt, why earlier this year they actually got an order--4 whole units from FEC...Yep, the boy in Eire are running scared from the "new and improved" EMD.

Actually, FEC only needed one new unit. They ordered 4 because at any given time 3 of the EMD's would be broke down.

...Of course, UP's SD70M's really aren't smashing reliability records with 96% availability, are they?

That rate was when they were new. Their current availability rate on UP has fallen below the GE Dash9's not to mention the GEVO's.

CSX has had a similar experience with their SD70MAC's.

EMD's used to age gracefully. They don't any more.

[UPRR engineer]

That rate was when they were new. Their current availability rate on UP has fallen below the GE Dash9's not to mention the GEVO's.

CSX has had a similar experience with their SD70MAC's.

EMD's used to age gracefully. They don't any more.

Where do you guys get this stuff at? How the...... do you guys know? Im not throwing a "Dutch" at you. Ya guessing here or what?

[WebInfo]

That rate was when they were new. Their current availability rate on UP has fallen below the GE Dash9's not to mention the GEVO's.

CSX has had a similar experience with their SD70MAC's.

EMD's used to age gracefully. They don't any more.

Where do you guys get this stuff at?

At work. I see the availability figures everyday.

[UPRR engineer]

Oh ya, where might that be at? Something dont seem right HERE...... You guys pretending you know, when you dont. Seems "Dutch" to me.

[WebInfo]

Oh ya, where might that be at? Something dont seem right HERE...... You guys pretending you know, when you dont. Seems "Dutch" to me.

I'm not pretending nothing. I'm a corporate consultant to UP among others in the industry. Crunching numbers like locomotive availability rate and making long term recomendations is what I do. You would have to be brain dead to lease an EMD now. Why? Better lease terms on GE + better fuel efficiency + better long term availibility.

Why you asking? Do you work for the UP?

[UPRR engineer]

THATS THE ANSWER I WAS LOOKING FOR " I'm a corporate consultant to UP among others in the industry".

LOL Little better than "At work. I see the availability figures everyday. "

I read people's posts, then look in the profile, i was (starting to) think you were a Trains Magazine Expert since you decided to leave that part of your profile blank.

Yes i am a locomotive engineer for the UP.