The GE C39-8 is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive model built by GE Transportation Systems between 1984 and 1987. It is part of the GE Dash 8 Series of freight locomotives. A total of 161 examples of this locomotive were built for two North American railroads: Conrail and Norfolk Southern Railway. The C39-8 was a fairly unpopular locomotive with crews, cited factors such as a rough ride, tendency to overheat, frequent turbocharger issues, issues with the fuel injection system, and various other reliability issues. Technical The C39-8 is powered by a V16 7FDL-16 diesel engine driving a GE GMC187A2 main alternator. The power generated by the main alternator drove 6 GE 752AG traction motors, each with a gear ratio of 83:20 and connected to wheels which allowed the C39-8 a maximum speed of . Depending on customer options, the C39-8 carried between of diesel fuel, of lubricating oil, and of coolant. Like most North American diesel locomotives, the C39-8 uses normal water for cooling. The C39-8 has a maximum tractive effort of at . Original owners Current use Apart from Norfolk Southern's test bed, Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad's former Norfolk Southern 8212 (née Conrail 6021) is the last C39-8 in active use in North America. 15 Norfolk Southern units were sold to Peru's Ferrocarril Central Andino (FCCA) after RDC acquired a significant part of the company in 1999. See also List of GE locomotives References C39-8 C-C locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1984 Freight locomotives Conrail locomotives Norfolk Southern Railway locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Standard gauge locomotives of Australia Diesel-electric locomotives of Australia