
The Great Pumpkin -- BNSF GE AC4400CW in Caliente, California

by Darin Volpe
Title
The Great Pumpkin -- BNSF GE AC4400CW in Caliente, California
Artist
Darin Volpe
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
BNSF 5732 just past a grade crossing in Caliente, California. It's a General Electric model AC4400CW, one of the first General Electric locomotives to use AC instead of DC traction motors.
Locomotives do not use their diesel engine to power the wheels. The engine is used to turn a generator which produces electrical power that is routed to electric motors on each axle. Until the early 1990s those motors were direct current, but in 1993 both EMD and General Electric introduced locomotives with AC traction motors. AC offered the advantage of reducing wheel slip, and therefore maintaining grip on the rails which increased the locomotive's pulling power.
Uploaded
November 1st, 2020
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