Diesel of the Day 7/3: GE C30-7

Today’s diesel was the primary competition for yesterday’s diesel. Meet the GE C30-7, General Electric’s answer to EMD’s wildly successful SD40-2. This locomotive is also powered by a 16-cylinder 3,000 horsepower turbocharged engine, though in this case GE’s own four-stroke 7FDL16. (One quickly learns that EMD and GE engines sound completely different when running, both making their own awesome sounds.) The C30-7 initially sold briskly, but was eventually overshadowed by the competing SD40-2, and in the end, GE only built about 1,200 of them between 1976 and 1986. In addition, the GE ‘Dash 7’ series of locomotives in general proved to be unreliable and prone to electrical issues, and most didn’t survive in service past the early to mid 2000s, whereas the rival SD40-2 can still be readily found all over the US and Canada, among other places. The photo this time reflects the fate of most C30-7s, cast off to smaller railroads or waiting to be scrapped for parts. This unit, former Conrail number 7136, worked for CSX and was not repainted before retirement. It’s one of the last of its type on Earth to still wear Conrail blue, and if you look closely you’ll see that I was there and planted a visitor.