Going, Going, Gone part 10 − EMD, GE, and...

: EMD SD70M Alpine, TX. Sep. 10, 2015
: EMD SD70MAC Fairbanks, AK. Feb. 14, 2014
: GE ES44 Grafton, WV. Sep. 8, 2019
: GE ET44 Prince, WV. Sep. 9, 2019
: Morrison-Knudsen MK-50-3 Martin, UT. Sep. 10, 2014

The blog “Boxcar Red Collection” marked the 10th anniversary in February last year, before even I noticed it. Also is that many things are going or gone in this decade before I hardly noticed it. So, let me look back at what we’re missing or missed.


Many railroad equipment manufacturers familiar to us are gone in these decades. The products they produced barely exist, but their names survive to this day. Let's see what we missed.


For me, EMD meant the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors succeeding the EMC. But, in 2005, it went through Greenbriar to Progress Rail, a Caterpillar subsidiary. It claimed Electro-Motive Diesel, Inc. to retain the EMD initials. The last locomotives built by GM Electro-Motive Division were SD70ACe units for CSX.

For me, locomotives built by General Electric were the minority or more to say, GE's were hardly seen when I was in Knoxville, TN in the early 70s. ALCO's were also the minority, but they were somewhat major compared with GE's. Today, it looks like GE's conquered the scene.

Nevertheless, in 2019, GE spun-off its Transportation Unit to Wabtec Corp. which was formed in 1999 by the merger of Morrison-Knudsen spinoff MK Rail and Westinghouse Air Brake Company. The last locomotives built by GE were ES and ET44 series units.

: Jan. 2011 Trains


Furthermore, many freight equipment manufacturers which we still see their names in model catalogs issued by Athearn, Atlas, and other makers are also gone in these decades:

Mount Vernon Car Manufacturing Co. was acquired by H. K. Porter Co. in 1944.
Pressed Steel Car Co. was acquired by U.S. Steel Co. and went out of the rail car manufacturing business in 1954.
Gunderson Inc. was sold to Food Machinery and Chemical Corp. (FMC) in 1965.
Differential Car Co. (DIFCO) was acquired by Trinity Industries Inc. in 1966.
General American Transportation Corp. (GATC) was renamed GATX Corp. in 1975, but it went out of the rail car manufacturing business soon after that.
Southern Iron & Equip. Co. (SIECO) was acquired by Evans Products Co. in 1982.
International Car Co. was acquired by PACCAR Inc. in 1975, but it went out of the rail car manufacturing business in 1983.
Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Co., later Pullman Transportation Co. was acquired by Trinity in 1984.
Pacific Car & Foundry Co. (PC&F) was renamed PACCAR Inc. and the rail car plant became the PC&F Division in 1972, but it went out of the rail car manufacturing business in 1984.
Evans Products Co. was acquired by GE in 1984[1].
FMC rail equipment division was acquired by Greenbrier Companies in 1985.
Greenville Steel Car Co. (GSC) was acquired by Trinity in 1986.
North American Car Co. (NACC) was acquired by GE in 1986.
Ortner Freight Car Co. was acquired by Trinity in 1987.
An ACF spinoff, Berwick Forge & Fabricating Corp., then Berwick Freight Car Co. closed its doors in 1993.
Thrall Car Manufacturing Co. was acquired by Trinity in 2001.
The rail car division of Bethlehem Steel Corp. was acquired by Johnstown America Industries Inc. in 2001.


Here represented above are the latest models built by the original EMD, GE, and MK found in my photo archives:
EMD SD70M UP #5116 built in 2002,
EMD SD70MAC ARR #4319 built in 2004,
GE ES44AC-H CSX #3181 built in 2015,
GE ET44AH CSX #3318 also built in 2015,
and Morrison-Knudsen MK-50-3 UTAH #5003 built in 1994.

Represented below are some of the equipment found in my photo archives built by extinct manufacturers:
ARR #95304 gondola car built by Mt. Vernon in 1943.
DRGW #68998 boxcar built by Pressed Steel in 1941.
BNSF #901514 side dump car built by DIFCO in 1940.
DRGW #63043 boxcar built by GATC in 1968.
SP #1776 caboose built by International in 1967.
SOU #527342 boxcar built by Pullman-Standard in 1974.
DRGW #60705 insulated boxcar built by PC&F in 1960.
DRGW #63119 boxcar built by Evans in 1968.
CBC #1 caboose built by Thrall in 1960.
DRGW #12548 quad hopper car built by Bethlehem Steel in 1982.

[1] Self-insured employers list, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries

: Mt. Vernon Fairbanks, AK, Feb. 14, 2012
: Pressed Steel Monte Vista, CO. Sep. 6, 2017
: DIFCO Las Cruces. NM. Sep. 10, 2015
: GATC Monte Vista, CO. Sep. 6, 2017
: International Sierra Blanca, TX. Sep. 10, 2015
: Pullman-Standard Price, UT Sep. 10, 2014
: PC&F Gunnison, CO. Sep. 6, 2017
: Evans Sevier County, UT Sep. 15, 2014
: Thrall East Carbon, UT Sep. 10, 2014
: Bethlehem Steel Cisco, UT. Sep. 10, 2017
　
　　
気が付いたら、このブログを始めてから10年以上経っている。記事を改めて見直すと、長いようで短い間にも色々と変化があることに気付く。そんな回顧を「Going, Going, Gone」というタイトルでまとめてみた。


鉄道車両メーカーの話題である。1970年代テネシー州Knoxvilleでは、機関車といえばEMD製だった。州北東部からケンタッキー州、バージニア州にかけて点在する炭鉱へ延びる山中の支線ではたまにALCO製機関車も見た。しかし、General Electricのものは見た憶えがない。写真にも残っていない。

そのEMDとは、当時自動車製造会社General Motorsの一事業部であったElectro-Motive Divisionの頭文字を拾ったイニシャルである。今も同じEMDを謳うものの、それは2005年にCaterpillarに売却されElectro-Motive Dieselとなった後のイニシャルである。

GE製機関車はその後北米市場を席巻したように見えた。しかし、盛者必衰の理ではないが、2019年にGEはその機関車製造部門をWestinghouse Air Brake Companyを基とするWabtecに売却し撤退してしまった。

その他、われわれにも模型カタログなどでおなじみのメーカーThrall は2001年に、Morrison-Knudsenは1999年にそれぞれ売却され現存しない。貨車メーカーは結局Trinity、ACF、およびGreenbrierの３社に集約されたようだ。

わが日本車輌も、かつては先に紹介したCSS&SBの電車や各地の二階建て客車など北米に一定の存在感をもっていたが、2015年に二階建て客車の開発に失敗し、2018年にはイリノイ州にあった工場を閉鎖・売却してしまった。

画像は、筆者の写真アーカイブから、ここで触れた旧メーカーの手による車両の写真を拾い出したものである。