General Electric's 4000 HP C40-8W was, and still is, a popular locomotive with America's railroads. Essentially a C40-8 with a wide cab, the C40-8W was manufactured between 1989 to 1994. In the end, GE would build 756 examples of this model for most of the major Class I railroads of the time, and many would be handed down to successor railroads. Dovetail Games released their own rendition of the C40-8W in the Miami - West Palm Beach Route Add-on in the CSX YN2 livery, but there are more schemes that could be made for this engine.
CSX:
CSX rosters 375 C40-8Ws, most of them acquired through the 1999 Conrail takeover. Most of CSX's C40-8Ws are painted in the roads old YN2 scheme, however there are units in the YN3 and current YN3b scheme on the Class I's roster. As mentioned, there is already a YN2 C40-8W that was included in Miami - West Palm Beach, but the YN3 and YN3b liveries would make a nice addition to Train Simulator's CSX stable. Both units could be released in their own pack, such as the CSX SD70MAC and ES44AC, or they could be released in a pack with the other C40-8W liveries listed below.
Future Workshop scenarios featuring these units could consist of running a rock train over Miami - West Palm Beach, or hauling coal on the NS Coal District.
(Author's note: CSX classifies their C40-8Ws as CW40-8s).
One of the handful of YN3b C40-8Ws on CSX's roster leads a train over the Etowah River Bridge in Emerson, Georgia. Photo copyright Steve Hardin and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
An ex-Conrail C40-8W, now painted in CSX YN3, rolls through Plant City, Florida, with a YN2 companion trailing. Photo copyright Manfred Hintz and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
Norfolk Southern:
Norfolk Southern owns 154 C40-8Ws, all handed down from Conrail after the 1999 merger. Norfolk Southern's C40-8 fleet is already represented in Train Simulator, so it is fitting that an accompanying C40-8W in NS livery could be released on Marketplace. Norfolk Southern applied two variants of their paint scheme onto the C40-8W fleet; some units are painted in the old, solid black "Thoroughbred" scheme, while others are in the newer "Horsehead" paint (these two schemes can be distinguished against each other by seeing if there is a horsehead in the NS logo on the engine's flanks. No horsehead = "Thoroughbred", horsehead = "Horsehead". Additionally, the "Horsehead" scheme can be distinguished by a white brow on the locomotive's cab).
If released by DTG onto Marketplace, the NS C40-8W could be put to work hauling coal over the Norfolk Southern Coal District route, or hauling freight over Horseshoe Curve in Workshop scenarios.
An ex-Conrail C40-8W in the "Horsehead" scheme is seen at the AEP Fayette Plant in Fayette, West Virginia. Photo copyright Ramsey Nicholson and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
Conrail:
Conrail once owned the largest fleet of C40-8Ws with a total of 296 units, counting the 60 ordered by the railroad for joint lease service with Locomotive Management Services, or LMS for short. The first batch of C40-8Ws delivered to Conrail wore the classic solid blue livery, with later units wearing debuting in the road's "Conrail Quality" paint scheme. All units were equipped with the road's signature class lights. With the exception of the 60 LMS units, CR's C40-8Ws were also equipped with electronic air brakes and IFC (integrated function control). The LMS engines were not equipped with IFC or electronic brakes so as to be more compatible with other railroads during lease services. In 1999, Conrail was merged into CSX and Norfolk Southern, and both roads got half of Conrail's C40-8W fleet. CSX opted to keep the class lights on their units, while Norfolk Southern would remove them.
Workshop scenarios could use these engines to haul freight over Hoseshoe Curve, or to haul black diamonds on the NS Coal District route.
(Author's note: Norfolk Southern's first ex-Conrail engine to be painted in the "Thoroughbred" scheme was a C40-8W).
Conrail C40-8W no. 6168 leads a train out of the Gallitzin Tunnel in Gallitzin, Pennsylvania on the ex-Pennsylvania mainline between Altoona and Pittsburgh. Photo copyright Mike Stellpflug and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
BNSF:
BNSF's fleet of C40-8Ws are shadowed by the road's C44-9Ws and GEVOs. Originally standing tall at 152 units, BNSF's C40-8W roster has dwindled down to 85 units in total; Canadian National purchased 67 from the road in 2010. BNSF had originally placed their C40-8Ws into storage in 2009, but due to a power surge, they were forced to reactivate the fleet in 2013. Some of these engines still wear the faded "Warbonnet" scheme of their predecessor, Santa Fe. Others wear the road's H2 and current H3 liveries. The BNSF C40-8Ws could be released onto Marketplace in H2 and H3 liveries, and a "Warbonnet" livery.
These units could be featured in Workshop scenarios using Pacific Surfliner®, Stevens Pass, Marias Pass, and the upcoming Racetrack: Aurora - Chicago route.
An H2 C40-8W leads an intermodal train over Cajon Pass in 2006. Photo copyright Ken Szok and reproduced courtesy of RailPictures.Net
Final Thoughts:
General Electric's C40-8W was a very popular engine among US railroads until it ended production in 1994. Even after the locomotive gave way to newer models, the C40-8W can still be found on nearly every Class I today. Therefore, it would be fitting if Dovetail Games created a Marketplace pack with C40-8W liveries. Even the ones listed aren't all that could be made- Canadian National, Union Pacific, Santa Fe, and a few other railroads had these engines on their roster at one point or another. Because of this, DTG should consider expanding the C40-8W fleet on Marketplace, either in a pack or simply as standalone skins.