Florida East Coast Railway Acquires 24 Locomotives From GE Transportation

[DJ MC]

This might be late news, but here it is.

 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Jan. 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- (NYSE: GE) – Florida East Coast Railway, LLC (FEC) announced today that it will acquire 24 new ES44C4 locomotives from GE Transportation.  The new locomotives will be used in thru-freight, heavy haul service on the railway's 351 mile mainline route between Jacksonville, and Miami, FL.

 

"These locomotives will provide the fuel efficient power we need to support the current operations and future growth of the railroad," said Fran Chinnici, Senior Vice President of Mechanical, Engineering and Purchasing at FEC.

 

The ES44C4 locomotive, part of GE's Evolution® Series, is designed to meet US EPA Tier 3 emissions requirements using advanced engine technology that lowers fuel consumption and operating costs. These locomotives provide the benefits while controlling NOx and particulate matter (PM) emissions.

 

"We're excited to have our Evolution Series locomotives join FEC's fleet. This locomotive model is the most fuel-efficient locomotive in the North American heavy-haul market today," said Dave Tucker, Vice President of Global Sales at GE Transportation.

 

Read more: Source

 

Man everyone is going for GE, even long time EMD customers. 

[DJ MC]

I'm also hearing these ES44C4s will replace FEC's SD70M-2s. Basically they're replacing seven year old locomotives with these. Don't know why they're replacing them so early, but I have feeling it may have to do with quality issues. 

[Turbo19]

Nice, can't wait to see some pics.

[DJ MC]

Nice, can't wait to see some pics.

 

You won't have to wait long, since I heard they will be here in March.

[theaveragejoe]

I'm also hearing these ES44C4s will replace FEC's SD70M-2s. Basically they're replacing seven year old locomotives with these. Don't know why they're replacing them so early, but I have feeling it may have to do with quality issues. 

 

 

Also will replace some SD40-2's in the fleet as well. They just want to standardize the fleet.

 

 

 

[DJ MC]

Also will replace some SD40-2's in the fleet as well. They just want to standardize the fleet.

 

No fleet in any railroad is really standardized to be technical there. 

[theaveragejoe]

No fleet in any railroad is really standardized to be technical there. 

 

They will be running one less model so yes there will be standardized fleet as the SD70M-2's would be odd balls in the fleet.

[DJ MC]

They will be running one less model so yes there will be standardized fleet as the SD70M-2's would be odd balls in the fleet.

 

Very true. Looking forward to seeing these, when they arrive next month.