GE Dash 8 Series

The Dash 8 Series is a line of diesel-electric freight locomotives built by GE Transportation. It replaced the Dash 7 Series in the mid-1980s and was superseded by the Dash 9 Series for freight and the Genesis Series for passenger use in the mid-1990s. Its design builds on the Dash 7, with the first use of a microprocessor engine control unit in a diesel locomotive and a modular body assembled from several sections to fit the chassis length. All models use a 16- or 12-cylinder turbocharged GE 7FDL four-stroke diesel engine and direct current traction motors. The prototype was completed in 1984, and production of the improved units began in earnest in 1987.