Innotrans 2010 - GE Powerhaul

I just heard that will in fact post his own pictures of Innotrans soon, and as they will be better lit and without that much crowds, they will probably be better than what I have. So if you are interested in the newest trains and don’t watch him already, you might want to think about starting.

Let’s get the uglies, or at least some of the uglies, out of the way first. GE’s Powerhaul series is their new family of diesel locomotives for europe, and the first member is the class 70 for the UK, ordered in large numbers by Freightliner. GE’s internal name is PH37ACmi, but I seriously doubt that anyone will ever remember that. I won’t. It is currently being delivered, but the James Bond unit was diverted to Berlin first, to represent the US at the Innotrans railroad exhibition.

Its main competitor is the class 66. It is supposed to be more fuel efficient, more convenient (including air conditioning) and has better crash protection (hence the characteristic bumps in the front). As a result of this, however, it has turned out to be rather ugly. One thing I also don’t get is the external walkway, because you can’t actually walk on that. The handrails leading to the cabs block it off.

GE has announced that they will design a different body shell for the larger continental loading gauge, so hopefully, this will be the last we saw of those monsters in Germany. Although, if that is their idea of good design, I shudder to think about their future ideas…