EMD GP39-2

The EMD GP39-2 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1974 and 1984. 239 examples of this locomotive were built for American railroads. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP39-2 was an upgraded GP39. The power for this locomotive was provided by a turbocharged 12-cylinder EMD 645E3 diesel engine, which could produce 2,300 horsepower (1,720 kW).

EMD GP39-2
BNSF 2866 in Santa Fe paint in Commerce, California
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel–electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
ModelGP39-2
Build date1974–1984
Total produced239
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • AARB-B
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length59 ft 2 in (18.03 m)
Prime moverEMD 645
Engine typeV12 diesel
Cylinders12
Performance figures
Power output2,300 hp (1,720 kW)
Career
LocaleUnited States
BNSF 2958 at Mormon Yard in Stockton, California

Unlike the original GP39, which sold only 23 examples as railroads preferred the reliable un-turbocharged GP38, the GP39-2 was reasonably successful, ascribed to its better fuel economy relative to the GP38-2 which became of more interest in the 1970s energy crisis, and to its better performance at altitude.[1]

Original owners

The GP39-2 sold to five railroads and two industrial operators:[2]

Railroad Quantity Road numbers Notes
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 106 3600–3705 Remainder to BNSF; 3600-3616 sold to Willamette & Pacific Railroad in 1993.
Burlington Northern Railroad 40 2700–2739 All to BNSF
Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation 32 1-3, 705–711, 779–799, 905 705-711 and 779-799 were built with raised cab roofs and extra windows for improved visibility in the Bingham open pit copper mine. Kennecott #3 was built for the Ray Mines Division of Kennecott Copper Corporation
Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad 20 360–379 371 to UP as 2370, then to NEGS, then to WAMX as 3927, operating with AA
Phelps Dodge Corporation 1 33
Reading Company 20 3401–3420 To Delaware and Hudson Railway, Chessie System, and then to CSX
Total239

Rebuilds

Several GP40-2 locomotives were rebuilt by Morrison–Knudsen with head-end power generators, which meant that 1,000 horsepower of the locomotive would go to the generator instead of being used for tractive effort. Because of this, they were renamed the GP38H-2 class of locomotives.

Preservation

Only one GP39-2 is preserved as of 2019:

  • CSX 4317, former Reading Company 3412, is preserved at the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society in Hamburg Pennsylvania. 4317 is the first GP39-2 in preservation.

References
  1. Foster, Gerald (1996). A Field Guide to Trains of North America. Houghton Mifflin Field Guides. ISBN 0-395-70112-0.
  2. "EMD GP39-2 Order Numbers". The UNofficial EMD Homepage. Retrieved 2006-12-08.

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