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#4010

EMD GP39

🇺🇸 United States ·built by Electro-Motive Diesel· from 1969· model of 23 American 2300hp Bo′Bo′ diesel-electric locomotives

EMD GP39, photo 1 of 9
1/9 Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California· CC BY 2.0

what is it?

The EMD GP39 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between June 1969 and July 1970. The GP39 was a derivative of the GP38 equipped with a turbocharged EMD 645E3 12-cylinder engine which generated 2,300 hp (1.72 MW). 23 examples of this locomotive model were built for American railroads.

who runs it

base stats

  • power 1.7 MWpower output
  • built 23made in total

Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.

fun facts

  • First built 57 years ago, in 1969.
  • 1.7 MW is about 20 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.

diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).

spec sheet

built
1969–1970
number built
23
kind
Diesel-electric
traction
diesel
origin
🇺🇸 United States
builders
Electro-Motive Diesel
operators
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway, Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad, Kennecott Utah Copper
top speed
—
power
1.7 MW
gauge
1,435 mm standard gauge

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q5323433, Wikipedia: EMD GP39 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.

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