EMD GP38
by
Mike Gerenday
The EMD GP38-2 is arguably one of the most popular locomotives of all time, with over 2,000 built most are still in service today. Just about every railroad in North America (and some export locations) had at least one example and the Alaska Railroad has a share of these locomotives.
The GP38-2 model was part of EMD's Dash 2 series and was the upgraded version of the GP38. Equipped with a 16 cyl 645E diesel engine that produced 2,000hp. A link will be provided for your viewing pleasure.
The Alaska Railroad purchased eight GP38-2 locomotives in 1986 and are rostered 2001-2008. (this wasn't the first time 20xx was used, 2504 was originally 2000, but that will be for another time.) These units were second hand with two from Butte Anaconda and Pacific and the rest from HELMS. The purchase of the 2000s was partly due of the recent vacated 1600s, and partly due to newer upgraded power.
2001 and 2002 were built in 1977, and 2003-2008 were built in 1969 making 2001 and 2002 the only true from the factory GP38-2s. The rest of the 2000s have been rebuilt at one time or another to Dash 2 standards. On a side note, the Butte Anaconda, and Pacific was used for a few scenes for Runaway Train.
As of 2020, all the 2000s are in service and are commonly used for switching in Anchorage and Fairbanks. Over the past 20 years, three of the 2000s were repainted into the "Quarter Pounder" scheme (nick-name for the modern scheme used on GPs) with five units remaining in the Bold Alaska scheme, which also are the last units in this scheme on the ARR. Occasionally a 2000 will be used on a freight train, and can be seen on work trains. It's been a few years since I've seen a 2000 on a passenger train, probably because they are not HEP equipped.
Here is a link to learn more about the GP38-2 and all the variants.
Page created 11/30/20 and last updated 11/30/20