1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SP 8033 19921006 IL Eola: Sean Lamb ( Slambo )· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The GE B39-8 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems. It is part of the GE Dash 8 Series of freight locomotives.
base stats
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 42 years ago, in 1984.
- 2.9 MW is about 34 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 21 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 20.1 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1984–1988
- number built
- 146
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- GE Transportation, General Electric
- top speed
- 113 km/h
- power
- 2.9 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- B-B
- length
- 20.1 m
- weight
- 127 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q657017, Wikipedia: GE B39-8 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.