Diesel of the Day 7/16: EMD SD90MAC

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For today, I’ll feature another unique locomotive from the history books: the EMD SD90MAC. This unit was the culmination of EMD’s participation in the horsepower race with GE. An entirely new prime mover was designed and developed for this locomotive, the EMD 16-265H. This engine was an unusual (for EMD) four-stroke turbocharged V16 producing a whopping 6,250 horsepower! Production totals were about 70 units through most of 1996. It became almost immediately clear that the new 16-265H four-stroke engine, despite its impressive specs, was riddled with problems, including overheating and lube oil contamination causing crankshaft bearing failure (bad!!). The electrical system was also subpar, with inconvenient cable routing and poor performance. In the end, the SD90MAC was regarded as a failure, and almost all surviving units have been repowered with the older but far more reliable EMD 16-710G3 engine. This unique locomotive was sadly mostly erased from history, but it’s interesting to think about. The photo today shows EMD demonstrator 8204 fresh from the factory, before all the problems were discovered. I like the paint!
Ill-fated :C