General Electric’s successful 3,600-horspower C36-7 and B36-7 locomotives, in multiple production versions and in Norfolk Southern livery, are coming to Train Simulator soon, thanks to the craftsmanship of programme partner DTM (Digital Traction Model).
Coming to Train Simulator, General Electric’s
B36-7 and C36-7 were the most powerful of GE’s
successful “Dash 7” diesel line, as Gary Dolzall reports
As one of America’s industrial titans, General Electric established itself as an independent builder of mainline diesel locomotives in 1959 with its 2,500-horsepower U25B, and throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s, GE produced an ever-expanding line of “Universal”-series diesels which came to be nicknamed “U-boats.” By the mid-1970s, though, GE’s landmark line of U-boats has largely reached its pinnacle of development and General Electric turned its energy toward an evolutionary line of diesel successors, which it soon coined as “Dash 7” locomotives.
General Electric’s Dash 7s promised advanced control features, better fuel efficiency, and improved reliability over the older generation of U-boats, and they would deliver as promised. While still relying upon GE’s proven 7FDL-series, four-stroke diesel power plant, the Dash 7s, as compared to their predecessors, improved fuel economy by approximately 16 percent at a time when fuel costs were an ever-more-critical factor in the railroads’ operating ratios. Indeed, the timing of GE’s introduction of its Dash 7 line could hardly have been better. The rush by several railroads, including western giants Burlington Northern and Union Pacific, to acquire power for the exploding volume of coal tonnage rolling out of the Powder River Basin was on, and both EMD (with the SD40-2 and GE with the U30C) were running up big sales numbers. It was thus no surprise that the first of GE’s new Dash 7 line to enter production, in the summer of 1976, was a successor to the U30C: the six-axle, 3,000-horsepower C30-7.
General Electric’s Dash 7 diesel line would, over the next four years, expand to encompass models with 2,300, 3,000, and 3,600 horsepower ratings and, in multiple variants, offer the railroads options of four-axle (B-B) or six-axle (C-C) wheel arrangements and the use of either GE’s 12-cylinder or 16-cylinder 7FDL power plants. With production of Dash 7 diesels lasting nearly a decade, until in-turn being supplanted by GE’s “Dash 8” line (beginning in 1983), total production of GE Dash 7 diesels worldwide exceeded 3.000 locomotives. In terms of horsepower, the two most potent members of the Dash 7 diesel line were the six-axle C36-7 and four-axle B36-7, each of which derived their 3,600 horsepower from GE’s 16-cylinder 7FDL power plant.
Measuring 62-feet, 2-inches long and typically weighing in at approximately 380,000 pounds, the C36-7 garnered nearly 600 unit sales, although the majority was for export (keynoted by China’s purchase of 422 units). In the U. S., the C36-7 was purchased by four customers: Missouri Pacific was the largest buyer, purchasing 60 units; Norfolk & Western and its successor, Norfolk Southern, acquired a total fleet of 43 units; and Conrail purchased 25 C36-7s. In 1984, with early Dash 8 production already underway at GE, a number of C36-7s were equipped with several Dash 8 features, most visually noticeable of which was an enlarged blower housing and dynamic brake structure.
Among the C36-7s purchased by N&W and NS were units displaying both the original (Phase I) and latter (Phase II) appearance, and further variety to this fleet was added by the N&W units being set up to operate short-hood first, while the latter order for NS was constructed to traditional Southern Railway specifications and to operate with long-hood forward. Upon the division of Conrail between CSX and NS in 1999, Conrail’s diesel fleet was split up, with 14 of Conrail’s C36-7s going to NS and the remainder to CSX. The stay of the ex-CR C36-7s on NS proved quite short however, as the units were turned back to their lessor in 2000 and many then resold to CSX. The C36-7s purchased originally by N&W and NS served Norfolk Southern into 2003 and thereafter a number were sold for further service in Brazil.
The four-motor B36-7, although it did not enjoy the same level of worldwide sales as its six-axle sister (only eight B36-7s were exported to Columbia), actually outsold the C36-7 domestically. Seaboard System was its biggest buyer, acquiring 120 units, and Conrail purchased 60. Southern Pacific (together with subsidiary Cotton Belt) acquired 20, Santa Fe 16, and the Southern Railway purchased six units. When new, the B36-7 was most frequently assigned to intermodal duty, with SBD, Conrail, and AT&SF regularly assigning the units to priority services. Most unique among the B36-7 production run were the half-dozen units built for the Southern Railway, which, as was typical for that road, were constructed with high short hoods and set up to operate long-hood forward.
Like their C36-7 kindred purchased by N&W, the Southern B36-7s became part of the diesel roster of Norfolk Southern in 1982, and NS gained a further 32 B36-7s when it acquired a portion of Conrail in 1999. NS retired all of its B36-7s by 2002 and although each of the original buyers of the B36-7 have retired their fleets, a handful of B36-7s gained recent fame hauling coal on the Transkentucky Transportation Railroad (TTI) over what was once Louisville & Nashville’s Paris-Maysville (Kentucky) branch line.
Both the General Electric B36-7 and C36-7 are coming soon to Train Simulator through the superb craftsmanship of Dovetail Games’ programme partner DTM (Digital Train Model). DTM’s upcoming “NS Big 7s” DLC will include a complete collection of the two types as owned by Norfolk Southern. In the case of the B36-7, this will include both the ex-Southern hi-nose version and ex-Conrail standard version of the locomotive. And in the case of the C36-7, the pack not only includes versions constructed for short- and long-hood-forward operations, but also Phase I and Phase II carbody styles and units equipped with GE’s GSC and Adirondack style trucks. The pack will include four career scenario putting the big GEs to work on Train Simulator’s Norfolk Southern Coal District route, and for those who enjoy creating and running community-created Steam Workshop scenario, DTM’s comprehensive selection of the NS B36-7 and C36-7 locomotives will provide extraordinary diversity for operations on the Coal District as well as other suitable routes such as the Northeast Corridor south of New York City and the famed Horseshoe Curve route, which, through the division of Conrail in 1999, became a vital part of the Norfolk Southern route system. – Gary Dolzall
In 1981, the Southern Railway purchased half-a-dozen B36-7s which, as was the road’s custom, were equipped with high short hoods and configured to operate long-hood forward. One of five different variants that will be included in DTM’s “NS Big 7s” DLC, the ex-Southern units went on to serve successor Norfolk Southern as NS road numbers 3815-3820. On Train Simulator’s NS Coal District route, a pair of B36-7s (above and below) lug a local along the Loveridge Secondary. All screenshots by Gary Dolzall.
Norfolk Southern gained a fleet of 32 low-nose B36-7s (assigned NS road numbers 3600-3631) when NS acquired a portion of Conrail in 1999. On the NS Coal District route, B36-7 3620 is ready to lead coal tonnage out of Bailey Mine. DTM’s “NS Big 7” pack will include four career scenario for the NS Coal District route.
NS Dash 7s will also be ideal for Steam Workshop scenario on various routes, including famed Horseshoe Curve, where a trio of NS B36-7s are hustling intermodal tonnage westbound. When new, the B36-7s were frequently assigned to priority intermodal trains.
NS predecessor Norfolk & Western purchased 31 burly six-axle C36-7 diesels equipped to run short-hood forward and the units became NS 8500-8530. On the NS Coal District, a pair of ex-N&W C36-7s (above and below) are hauling a long string of empty coal gons west to be loaded at Emerald Mine.
When NS acquired its portion of Conrail, it also gained 14 more C36-7s which were assigned NS road numbers 8480-8493. DTM’s upcoming Dash 7 locomotives will be suitable for service on the Northeast Corridor route south of New York City. Ex-CR C36-7 8480 is leading auto parts tonnage along the Corridor at Metuchen, New Jersey (above), and a short time later (below), crosses the Raritan River at New Brunswick.
Following N&W’s purchase of the C36-7, successor Norfolk Southern acquired a dozen more six-axle units (NS 8531-8542) in 1984. Unlike the prior N&W units, this order was specified with long-hoods designated as front and also incorporated several design features of Dash 8 locomotives. Running long-hood forward, NS 8532 (above) begins its pull from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania on the NS Coal District route. Since this last order of C36-7s by NS was equipped with Southern-style “bi-directional” control stands, the units also frequently operated short-hood forward, as exemplified by NS 8542 (below).
DTM’s “NS Big 7” DLC will include five highly accurate variations of Norfolk Southern’s GE B36-7 and C36-7 diesel locomotives in one pack – and they’re all coming soon to Train Simulator!