Progress Rail Locomotive
Progress Rail Locomotive (until August 2016: Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. , until 2005 General Motors Electro-Motive Division ) is currently the world's second largest manufacturer of locomotives. The toughest competitor is Wabtec , whose predecessor GE Transportation Systems took first place from EMD in the mid-1980s. The two manufacturers have divided almost the entire market in the USA and Canada between themselves. They also supply many important markets worldwide, e.g. B. Central and South America, England, Africa, China, Australia and New Zealand. In 2008, EMD employed around 3,260 people and had sales of $ 1.71 billion.
Over 70,000 diesel engines have been manufactured to date . Most of the diesel-electric locomotives operating in North America and around the world were manufactured by EMD. As a result, EMD contributed significantly to the end of the steam locomotive in the USA.
Progress Rail Locomotive is now part of the Progress Rail division of the Caterpillar Group. The company's headquarters are in La Grange, Illinois , and Progress Rail is based in Albertville, Alabama .
history
Founded until World War II
On August 31, 1922, Harold L. Hamilton and Paul Turner founded the "Electro-Motive Engineering Company" in Cleveland . The company's aim was to develop, sell and support gasoline-electric railcars for passenger transport. In 1923 the company name was changed to "Electro-Motive Company". In 1924 the first two M 300 vehicles were delivered. One went to the Chicago Great Western Railway and one to the Northern Pacific Railway . Both had a 130 kW engine from the Winton Engine Company . The electrical equipment was from General Electric and the vehicle was manufactured at St. Louis Car . This business model was adhered to until 1936. The company had no manufacturing of its own, only an office in Cleveland and a few warehouses. The main contributor was Richard Dilworth, a former General Electric engineer. Other engineers and draftsmen worked alongside him. You bought the necessary components and then commissioned a company to build it. In 1925 it was already possible to sell 27 railcars. In 1927, EMC supported the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad in converting two mail cars into locomotives by installing 410 kW engines. This project was followed by three further conversions and seven new analog buildings. In 1929, the three-part Bluebird multiple unit for Chicago & Great Western , a forerunner of streamlined trains, was equipped with an engine supplied by EMC.
Due to the Great Depression , the US-wide business with gas or gasoline powered railcars fell sharply. In addition, the further technical development of the engines reached their limits. But the diesel engine seemed to have development potential. General Motors therefore acquired the engine manufacturer "Winton Engine Company" in order to further develop its own diesel engine project. At the same time as this acquisition, Winton's main customer, the Electro Motive Company, was bought on December 31, 1930. EMC retained extensive independence, but was able to fall back on the potential of the GM group.
In 1933 the M-10000 "City of Salina" multiple unit with the new 600 hp (447 kW) 12-cylinder Winton 201A diesel engine was developed for the Union Pacific Railroad . This engine, developed as a submarine drive, became the first drive unit that could be used for a locomotive. The streamlined diesel-electric "Zephyr" trains developed by Budd in 1934 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad were also the first to receive such engines. Locomotives with this engine were also built for other railway companies . In 1936 Electro-Motive opened its first plant in the Chicago suburb of McCook, where the company headquarters also moved. It was named after the postal address - La Grange. From 1938 the production of diesel and electric motors as well as generators took place there.
In 1937 the foundation stone for the following EMD E-Series and EMD F-Series locomotives was laid with the EA diesel locomotive . These vehicles had the bogies of the same name developed by Martin Blomberg , which were used almost unchanged in EMD locomotives for over 50 years. The bogies had laterally movable transverse leaf spring assemblies and stable U-shaped side frames. In the following year the new two-stroke diesel engine type 567 was presented. 567 stands for the displacement of a cylinder (567 in³ = 9,291.5 cm³). This engine, which was produced in versions with 6, 8, 12 or 16 cylinders and later also charged with exhaust gas, was the drive basis for locomotive production for the next 28 years. Over 25,100 locomotives were equipped with this machine. The engine was also available for other applications, such as ship propulsion.
The FT freight locomotive was introduced in 1939. The promotional tour of the United States was a great success. The railway companies in the western United States saw the locomotives as the solution to their water problem on the desert routes and began to order appropriate vehicles. At the end of 1940 one locomotive was being completed every day, and by then 600 units had already been sold. On January 1, 1941, the Electro-Motive Company and the Winton Engine Company were fully integrated into the group. The name was now "Electro-Motive Division" (EMD).
War and post-war period
When the United States entered the Second World War in 1942, the production of locomotives was stopped for the time being by the "General Limitation Order L-97". Instead, the manufacture of engines for submarines and landing ships took place. However, the development work on new models was not restricted. The production ban was soon relaxed, as the machines were needed for essential warfare transports. By 1945, 1096 type FT locomotives were sold to 23 railway companies. In contrast to its competitors American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and Baldwin Locomotive Works , EMD had a mature design to offer and was therefore able to use this time to penetrate the market as a monopoly. The competing companies concentrated all their resources on the construction of diesel shunting locomotives and steam locomotives and were therefore able to briefly expand their market power. After the end of the war, Electro-Motive had a technical lead. The emerging market could be served immediately with new freight train ( F7 ) and passenger train models ( E3 ). In 1946 the entry into the export business began with locomotives of the type F2 , which were delivered to Mexico. In 1949 a collaboration with the company Clyde Engineering started to build locomotives for the Australian continent. EMD supplied the design and motors while manufacturing was done on site. From 1954 the Swedish company Nydqvist och Holm AB began to manufacture locomotives for the European market on the basis of EMD licenses , whereby EMD also supplied the engines from the United States. This business model has also been used in many other countries. The locomotives were manufactured or assembled on site according to EMD plans and the company supplied the engines for them. From 1958 , Henschel manufactured diesel locomotives for the Egyptian railways with diesel engines from EMD.
.JPG)
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, most railway companies began converting their fleets to diesel locomotives. In addition to EMD, ALCO, Baldwin and Lima appeared in the market as competitors, and Fairbanks-Morse as the new locomotive manufacturer . In an initial order, the railway companies often ordered vehicles from different manufacturers for comparison purposes. With the second order, the decision was usually made in favor of EMD locomotives. The company was also able to draw on experience from automobile advertising and also implemented the aggressive marketing strategies in the locomotive sector. In addition, there was the expansion of a nationwide network of service points that ensured fast delivery of spare parts. In 1947 the company employed over 12,000 people and the daily production was five locomotives, the delivery time was two years. The bestsellers for freight locomotives were first the F3 and later the F7 and for passenger locomotives the E7 and its successor E8 . While the freight locomotives offered clear economic advantages over the steam locomotives, the situation was different with the passenger locomotives. Here it was above all the arguments “progress” and “modernity” that convinced the railway companies to buy. Due to the large number of orders, further plants were opened in Chicago and Cleveland. In 1950 the factory in London, Ontario was inaugurated. This plant operated by the subsidiary "General Motors Diesel" (GMD) produced original EMD locomotives as well as its own GMD makes for the Canadian and export markets.
In 1949 EMD presented the four-axle GP7, a locomotive with a completely new design. They said goodbye to the self-supporting construction of the predecessor. The engine, main generator and all other components were now housed under a cover on the main frame so that they are easily accessible. This made entertainment much easier. This concept caught on within a very short time and all locomotives manufactured since the 1960s are based on this design. In 1952 the six-axis version, the EMD SD7 , is presented.
EMD's competitors gradually gave up. The merger of Baldwin, Lima and the motor manufacturer Hamilton to Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton could no longer save the company. Fairbanks-Morse soon concentrated on its original business area, the manufacture of marine diesel engines. Only ALCO could survive for quite a while, supported by General Electric who supplied the electrical equipment. GE entered the market in the early 1950s, first with gas turbine locomotives and later with diesel-electric vehicles.
In 1951 the 10,000 was delivered. Locomotive, the market share for EMD at that time was over 75%. Another 5,000 locomotives were produced by 1954. From this time on, the engines were also sold as mobile power generators. From 1955 to the mid-1960s, several investigations were carried out and lawsuits filed by competitors and the antitrust authorities because of the company's market power. However, EMD has not been found to have breached the law or used illegal methods.
From 1959, the SD24 and GP20 series with exhaust-gas-charged engines were offered to further increase performance. By 1960, the around 60,000 steam locomotives in North America had been replaced by around 25,000 diesel locomotives. The traction change was thus completed within 25 years. In 1961 the former Winton engine production, known since 1937 as the “Cleveland Diesel Division of General Motors”, was fully integrated into EMD. In 1962 the company delivered the 25,000. Locomotive on the Louisville and Nashville Railroad . Two years later, the last locomotive in the E / F series, an E9A for the Union Pacific, rolled off the assembly line.
From the 1960s
In 1965 the new engine type 645 was launched. The engine was offered as V8, V12, V16 and V20 with and without a turbocharger. The power was between 1100 kW and 2700 kW. The locomotives equipped with it are referred to as the "40 Series" ( SD40 , GP40 ). Due to their high stability and operational reliability, these diesel units were used as generators on the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers of the US Navy . In 1969 ALCO gave up locomotive production. A small license production was continued for a while in the Canadian Montreal Locomotive Works . From then on, the market was dominated by EMD and GE.
With the DDA40X , presented in 1969 on the occasion of the centenary of the completion of the transcontinental rail link , the company presented a 4922 kW locomotive that puts all previous ones in the shade. Apart from the size and power of the locomotive, the use of three-phase generators with diode rectifiers, the modular electronics and the safety cab that was taken over from the FP45 were groundbreaking for further development.
In 1971, the company's first series locomotives with three-phase generators with diode rectifiers and thyristor control came onto the market with the models SD38AC and GP38AC . This design replaced the design with direct current generators and direct current series motors that had been common up until then. The new technology quickly caught on in the market and from the mid-1970s onwards, almost exclusively locomotives with the new technology were sold. In 1972 the "Dash-2" series was introduced. Compared to the previous locomotives, they had a modular electronic control system for the first time. The SD40-2 was the most successful series to date with 3,945 units. From 1976, EMD produced the F40PH , a passenger locomotive that formed the backbone of the vehicle fleet at Amtrak and some local transport companies for almost 20 years . The predecessor SDP40F, manufactured in 1974, turned out to be a faulty design, which was mainly known from frequent derailments.
Starting with the "50 Series" ( GP50 and SD50 ) introduced in 1979 , the locomotives had a new system for controlling wheel slip . By 1981, Electro-Motive Division had sold over 10,000 motors for non-rail applications. The 50,000. The locomotive powered by a GM engine was produced in 1984.
The locomotives of the "50 Series" could not meet the expectations of the company and the railway companies. Due to various problems, many railway companies decided to buy locomotives from General Electric instead of EMD. This trend continued from the late 1980s when GE introduced its " Dash-8 " and " Dash-9 " series locomotives, which at times were technically superior to EMD locomotives, especially in terms of performance and fuel consumption. In addition, GE had more aggressive marketing and a better attitude towards customer requirements, as well as higher production capacities. All this development resulted in GE producing more locomotives for the North American market each year since 1987 than EMD.
From the 1980s
The new engine type 710 and the new locomotive series "60 Series" ( GP60 and SD60 ) were presented in 1984. The two-stroke diesel engine was controlled with microprocessors for the first time and is still available in further developments in the variants V8, V12, V16 and V20. An electronic slip control was also introduced a short time later. At the same time, the GP60 presented was the last freight locomotive with the B'B 'wheel arrangement . Since 1995 only freight locomotives with the C'C ' wheel arrangement are in demand. The only exceptions are shunting and passenger locomotives. From 1986 the company began to enter the leasing business and the maintenance of locomotives. Since then, the railway companies have been given the option of renting EMD locomotives according to their needs. Furthermore, it is also possible to have the locomotives serviced directly by EMD in their own workshops.
In 1988 the Electro-Motive Division and GM Diesel Division of Canada were merged. After the free trade agreement between Canada and the United States, EMD decided in 1991 to concentrate all locomotive production in the Canadian plant in London, as the existing capacities no longer met demand. After this decision, only diesel engines and individual components were manufactured in La Grange. In cooperation with Siemens , the first diesel locomotive with three-phase generators and three-phase asynchronous machines as traction motors was presented in 1992 . The SD60MAC were tested for almost two years in collaboration with the Burlington Northern Railroad . The first 350 series locomotives of the EMD SD70MAC series went to Burlington Northern in 1994. In addition to the new type of drive, the locomotives had bogies with radially adjustable wheel sets, an advanced computer and diagnostic system, and a noise-dampened cabin.
In the same year, the new F59PHI passenger locomotive was presented, which was mainly bought by regional service providers. The two-system locomotive DM30AC was developed for the Long Island Railroad . In 1996 the British railway company EW&S placed an order to build 250 locomotives of the type JT42CWR (Series 66). In 1998, the cooperation with Caterpillar and Motive Power Industries began in the sector of low-performance shunting and mainline locomotives.
In the early 1990s, an arms race began between GE and EMD for the most powerful locomotive. In 1997, EMD presented the SD90MAC-H with an output of around 4,474 kW (6,000 PS). This locomotive had the new four-stroke diesel engine type 265H. In 1999 Union Pacific placed an order for 1,000 SD70M locomotives . This was the largest locomotive construction contract ever placed in North America.
In the 21st century
In 2001 EMD introduced the “IntelliTrain” remote maintenance and monitoring system. With the models SD70ACe and SD70M-2 , EMD first presented locomotives in 2004 that meet the strict EPA Tier 2 emissions standard . The locomotives are powered by the tried and tested 710 motor, as the 265H motor did not meet these requirements.
Due to the economic problems in the General Motors group, the GM management finally decided to sell the Electro-Motive division in 2004 to consolidate the group. On January 12, 2005, the sale to a consortium of Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners was officially announced. The newly founded company has been called Diesel since Electro-Motive .
In 2005, an agreement was signed between the Chinese Ministry of Railways, Dalian Lokomotivwerke (DLoco) and Electro-Motive Diesel to supply three hundred 6000-horsepower locomotives. The locomotives are to be developed and produced in China. Between 2006 and 2008, the number of employees at EMD increased from around 2,640 to around 3,260.
On August 2, 2010, the Caterpillar subsidiary Progress Rail acquired EMD. The purchase price was $ 928 million. In 2011, a new locomotive factory was opened in Muncie, Indiana . This was necessary in order to be awarded the contract for corresponding contracts with state subsidies. The expansion of the plant cost around 50 million dollars. The first locomotives from this plant were delivered at the end of October 2011. At the same time, production at the plant in London, Canada, was cut back and completely stopped on February 3, 2012. Locomotives are now only manufactured in the company's own plant in Muncie and in a Bombardier plant in Sahagún, Mexico, as a contract service.
Since the diesel engines from Electro-Motive Diesel did not meet the TIER 4 emission standards , the company could no longer supply any locomotives to the US market between 2015 and 2016 and lost market share to its competitor GE.
EMD was only able to deliver on its home market again with the introduction of the SD70ACe-T4 in autumn 2016; since spring 2017, Tier 4-compliant re-engines for older locomotives have also been offered.
On September 1, 2016, the company changed its name to Progress Rail Locomotive . However, EMD and Electro-Motive Diesel will be retained as brand names.
Current product range
The EMD SD70M-2 and EMD SD70ACe locomotive types are primarily manufactured for the North American market . Since the mid-2010s, this has been developed into the types SD70ACE-T4 and SD70ACS. The GP20D type is available as a shunting locomotive . The type EMD F125 is offered for passenger traffic .
Various locomotives are offered and developed for the export market. Some of these are also produced in the target market. The JT56ACe is being built for the Chinese railways in cooperation with the Dalian Lokomotivwerke. The JT42CWR M (Series 66), Series 67 and, in collaboration with Vossloh, the Euro 4000 are manufactured for the European market . In cooperation with Siemens, the GT46MAC is produced for the Indian railways . The list of locomotives from EMD provides an overview of all the locomotive series produced .
The diesel engines are also offered for stationary applications or as drive units for ships.
literature
- Trains - EMD Locomotives 75 Years Collector's Edition . 09/97, Kalmbach Publishing Co., ISSN 0041-0934
- Solomon, Brian: EMD Locomotives , Voyageur Press st. Paul, MN; 1st edition 2006; ISBN 0-7603-2396-8
- Greg McDonnell: Field guide to modern diesel locomotives . Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha, WI 2002, ISBN 0-89024-607-6 .
- Jerry A. Pinkepank, Louis A. Marre: Diesel Spotter's Guide Update . Kalmbach Publishing Co. Milwaukee, WI 1979, ISBN 0-89024-029-9
- Albert J. Churella: Electro-Motive Division, General Motors Corp. In: William D. Middleton, George M. Smerk, Roberta L. Diehl (Eds.): Encyclopedia of North American Railroads . Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN 2007, ISBN 978-0-253-34916-3
Web links
- Progress Rail
- Overview of the individual locomotives
- Page to the export locomotives
- Albert Churella: Corporate Culture And Marketing In The American Railway Locomotive Industry: American Locomotive And Electro-Motive Respond To Dieselization.
Individual evidence
- ↑ forbes.com: America's Largest Private Companies , accessed July 20, 2009
- ↑ a b Company Profile from Hoover's - Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. . In: www.hoovers.com . Hoovers, Inc. 2010. Archived from the original on March 10, 2010. Retrieved September 20, 2013: "Number of employees 2008 3260"
- ↑ forbes.com: America's Largest Private Companies , accessed July 20, 2009
- ↑ Trains News Wire: It's official: Caterpillar now owns EMD
- ^ Railway Gazette November 1, 2010: Progress Rail announces location for US locomotive plant
- ^ Railway Gazette February 3, 2012: Progress Rail closes EMD plans in London
- ↑ Bloomberg.com September 29, 2014: Well-Timed Bet Has GE Ahead of Caterpillar in Locomotives
- ↑ - EMD unveils its first Tier 4 diesel locomotive
- ↑ Progress Rail to drop Electro-Motive from company names starting Sept. 1
