The E8 was a 2,250-horsepower (1,678 kW), A1A-A1A passenger-train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois.
450 cab versions, or E8As, were built from August 1949 to January 1954, 447 for the U.S. and 3 for Canada.
46 E8Bs were built from December 1949 to January 1954, all for the U.S. The 2,250 hp came from two 12 cylinder model 567B engines, each driving a generator to power the two traction motors on one truck.
The E8 was the ninth model in the line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units. Starting in September 1953 at total of 21 E8As were built which used either the 567BC or 567C engines.
Today most of the E8s were all scrapped but there are 58 E8s that survived into preservation.
Trivia[]
- In profile the front of the nose of E7, E8, and E9 units is less slanted than earlier EMD units, and E7/8/9s (and their four axle cousins, the F-unit series) have been nicknamed "bulldog nose" units. Earlier E-unit locomotives were nicknamed "slant nose" units.
- After passenger trains were canceled on the Erie Lackawanna in 1970, the E8s were re-geared for freight and were found to be very reliable. These units were used on freight trains until the formation and early years of Consolidated Railroad Corporation ("Conrail").
- Units noted with the designation E8m were rebuilt using components from earlier EMC/EMD locomotives. Externally the units look just like E8s, but mechanically, there is a catch; the difference in horsepower produced in these E8m units is seen and felt because the older generators were re-used.
- Baltimore & Ohio E8A #92 is on static display at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.