GE AC6000CW

The GE AC6000CW is a freight diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric beginning in the late 1990s, developed to compete with a rival high-horsepower model from Electro-Motive Division and rated, at up to 6,000 horsepower, among the most powerful single-unit diesel-electric locomotives ever built for North American freight service. Built using alternating-current traction motors for improved pulling power at low speed, the type was purchased by several major American freight railroads, but its very large engine proved less reliable in practice than expected, and some railroads later had their AC6000CW locomotives derated to lower horsepower to improve dependability. The model's high-horsepower ambitions and subsequent reliability challenges made it a notable episode in the pursuit of ever more powerful single freight locomotive units.