EMD GP38AC

The EMD GP38AC is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between February 1970 and December 1971. It was basically a GP38 with an AR10 alternator instead of the GP38's normal generator.^[1][2]

EMD GP38AC
LLPX 2210
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) Model GP38AC Build date February 1970 - December 1971 Total produced 261
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR B-B  • UIC Bo'Bo' Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Prime mover EMD 16-645E
Career Locale United States

261 examples of this model were built; railroads that purchased this model include CP, DT&I, GTW, GM&O, IC, LV, L&N, N&W, SLSF, SOU and Pacific Power and Light.^[3]

Many were upgraded to full GP38-2 status with the Dash 2 modular electrical cabinet.

BNSF 2116 EMD GP38AC

New England Central Railroad EMD GP 38 AC Unit #3857 at White River Junction, VT

Original buyers

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
CP Rail	21	3000-3020
Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad	14	210-217	215 renumbered 209, 216 renumbered 208, 217 renumbered 207; to Grand Trunk Western Railroad 6207-6214
		215-220	To Grand Trunk Western Railroad 6215-6220
Grand Trunk Western Railroad	12	5800-5811
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad	13	721-733	To Illinois Central 9540-9552
Illinois Central Railroad	20	9500-9519
Lehigh Valley Railroad[4]	4	310-313	To Conrail 7656-7659,[5] and then to Norfolk Southern 2881-2884, Rebuilt into remote control yard slugs in 2007
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	30	4020-4049	To Seaboard System Railroad 6241-6270 then to CSX[6]
Norfolk and Western Railway	60	4100-4159	To Norfolk Southern.[7]
Pacific Power & Light Company	1	11	To Arizona Public Service - Pacificorp Cholla Power Plant
Southern Railway	56	2823–2878	To Norfolk Southern.[8]
St. Louis – San Francisco Railway	30	633-662	651 wrecked, remaining to Burlington Northern Railroad 2110-2138 and later to BNSF. Some of them were rebuilt as GP38-3R or GP39-3
Totals	261

Preservation

BNSF Railway EMD GP38AC No. 2127 at the Galveston Railroad Museum

In June 2020, BNSF 2127, originally Frisco 650 built in February 1971, was donated to the Galveston Railroad Museum, in Galveston, Texas. ^[9]