HO GP50 with DCC & Sound, ATSF #3822 Overview
By the early 1990's, Santa Fe's GP50's started to get some changes from the original appearance. Changes included the relocation of the headlight assembly to the nose, the bell to the rear hood and the addition of ditch lights. A few even got repainted resulting in slightly different lettering font. We are offering one of each version to add variety to your fleet.
The EMD GP50 is a 4-axle diesel road switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1980 and 1985. It is powered by a 16-cylinder EMD 645F3B diesel engine, which can produce between 3,500 and 3,600 hp.
A total of 278 examples of this locomotive were built. The GP50 retains the same overall length of 59 feet 2 inches as the other GP dash-2 series locomotives built in the same era. It utilized GM's D87 traction motor enabling it to produce a starting tractive effort of 65,000 pounds, with a continuous rating of 62,400 pounds.
The most significant difference in the GP50 from earlier designs like the GP40 was upgraded components (like a turbocharger silencer and new type of blower housing) and increased horsepower. The locomotive also introduced a new âanti-wheel-slipâ technology where the locomotive horsepower output was reduced if a wheel slip condition was introduced. It also included features already common on earlier models such as dynamic braking (a system for temporarily employing traction motors as generators and using the resulting electromotive force to slow the train), and an airtight hood that kept out dust, dirt and other particles from reaching internal components.
All the companies that purchased the GP50 have now been absorbed into other systems. However, a few of their successors continue to operate the units. A number GP50s have rebuilt for better fuel economy and continue in service today.
This page is based on the copyrighted Wikipedia article âEMD GP50â (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_GP50); it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.