O AC4400 Diesel CSX #601/3.0

From the dawn of dieselization through its first six decades,
virtually every American diesel locomotive used DC traction motors. By
the early 1990s, however, a series of technological advances allowed
designers to tap the inherent superiority of AC traction —
namely, the ability of an AC motor to start a heavier load than a DC
motor, with the same prime mover. The superior adhesion of AC power
touched off a new horsepower race because, with the same number of
wheels, AC traction could put more horsepower on the rails.

Two years behind rival EMD, General Electric entered the AC traction
business in June 1993 with the AC4400CW — 4400 horsepower,
“C” for 3-axle trucks, and “W”
for wide North American cab. The new engine was basically an AC version
of the Dash 9-44CW introduced the same year. The key external
difference between the two engines is the large box behind the cab on
the left side of the AC 4400CW, which houses much of the AC traction
electronics.

Although General Electric’s AC power arrived on the scene
later, its AC engines have outsold those made by EMD. One reason may be
GE’s use of one inverter bank per traction motor, a design
that allows the crew to cut out a single malfunctioning motor and still
retain more than 80% of a locomotive’s function. On a
comparable EMD AC-powered engine, an entire truck has to be taken
offline if one of its three motors fails.

One area of weakness for GE was its high adhesion trucks, which were
generally acknowledged to be inferior to EMD’s steerable
radial truck. Later model AC4400CWs feature GE’s own version
of a steerable truck, which improves adhesion on curves.

Now you can bring the brute strength of the AC4400CW to your own
freight operations. This model offers the industry-leading features you
expect in a Premier diesel: awesome sounds, superb detailing,
see-through body grilles, a wealth of added-on details, and smooth
operation at any throttle setting from a crawl to high-speed mainline
service.