Chesapeake and Ohio EMD E-8 Diesel Locomotive No 4024, Date and Location Unknown
More than four-hundred General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) E-8 locomotives were built, beginning in August of 1949. Two twelve cylinder diesel engines provided 2250 hp to a generator, which, in turn, produced electrical power to four electric motors, two on each four-wheel truck, for this locomotive. Many do not know that nearly all diesel locomotives actually move through the use of powerful electric motors, which provide much smoother application of power than if diesel engines served as the primary means of locomotion. Therefore, almost all modern American locomotives are powered by electric motors that receive their current from diesel driven generators.
Chesapeake and Ohio E-8 locomotive number 4024 shown here consists of the “A” unit with its cab where the engineer was located and a “B” unit with an identical power train but no cab. The engineer controlled both “A” and “B” units from the cab. This arrangement provided the required tractive force for most trains in the 1940’s through the 1960’s. This photograph, lacking any specific information, was likely taken in the 1950’s or 1960’s, well before the C&O became part of the Chessie System in 1972. The photographer effectively used the signal bridge as a strong compositional element.
More contemporary railroad operations use “distributive” power, spacing several individual locomotives over the entire length of long freight drags of one-hundred cars or more. This arrangement distributes the train’s total weight to the multiple engines spaced over the length of the drag, greatly relieving the strain on the lead locomotive’s rear coupler. All distributive power locomotives in a specific train are controlled by the engineer in the lead locomotive.
Image is a high resolution scan of an 11×14 print, therefore the original negative is unavailable for printing. An inkjet print will be provided from the digital file if ordered.
Ernest Robert’s collection of railroad photographs, on loan from his daughter, provides a rare opportunity for rail fans to purchase silver halide photographic prints from many of his large format negatives–some taken by him and others purchased from photographers and collectors. Other collection images requiring digital restoration will yield inkjet prints.
Original prints in the collection have been copied digitally under rigorous lighting conditions providing inkjet prints of the highest possible quality.
See coloradoinblackandwhite.com in the coming weeks for many more Ernest Roberts Railroad Photography images.
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