09/08/2021
The market has changed pretty dramatically since this site first began its journey in the ether. Hybrid locomotives came and went - and are seemingly coming again. The next wave of emissions reduction technology was the genset locomotive: innovative in its divide and conquer strategy to emissions and fuel usage, but with the achilles' heel of having two or three of everything, and also relying on high RPM diesel engines - something that traditionally hasn't fared well in the industry. You can make the argument though, that the market interest in hybrids and gensets drove larger single engine technology to where it is now.
A good example of new becoming old and old becoming new again was found on this switch job working the Tideflats for Tacoma Rail in Tacoma, WA in the summer of 2013: lead locomotive TMBL 2201 was a remanufactured GP22ECO, while the trailing locomotive, TMBL 2100, was the railroad's sole 3GS21B genset by NRE. Though they were delivered just a few months apart in 2011, they're miles apart in technology. Both locomotives are Tier II compliant, but that's about where the similarities end. And like many other customers, Tacoma Rail spoke with its checkbook: they ordered three ECO rebuilds from EMD, while the 2100 is an orphan.
