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Union Pacific GE ES44AC [Legacy G3]

https://discord.gg/wKrvQXRV3v

if you live in North America You've definitely seen this locomotive before, even if you didn't know it's name.

The ES44AC is one of the most common sights today on modern railroads. It was created in compliance with the new Tier 2 and 3 emissions standards set by the EPA to succeed the AC4400 CW as GE's 4400 horsepower AC road locomotive. Created by General Electric in 2005, it was produced until 2012 when it was succeeded by the ET44AC that was made to comply with Tier 4 Emmissions. In 2005 GE was ontop of the locomotive market. The EPA had just released Tier 2 Emissions standards and the old FDL-16 engine GE had been using since the 50's was struggling to keep up with the standards. GE released the GEVO-12 series of prime movers to comply with the new standards. Gevo being short for "General Electric Evolution Series". The ES44AC featured a redesigned hybrid control stand, back by popular demand, and redesigned flared radiators. It crushed the new EMD SD70ACe in sales and cemented GE as the king of the North American locomotive market. When Tier 4 emissions were announced, GE got to work making their GEVO-12 compliant with the new standards, bringing forth the ET44AC, which took the ES44AC's place as GE's flagship model. The easiest way to tell them apart is that the ET44AC has much thicker flared radiators that are thicker and pointy at the top, unlike the ES44's boxier design. It is also worth noting to not confuse them with the Dash-8 and Dash-9 series which can be spotted easily by their slimmer radiators and no hatches on either side of the exhaust. Although the ES44AC is no longer produced, it is still a very common sight on the railroad. Both the ES44AC and the ET44AC are widely referred to as GEVOs, in a nod to their engine and also since it is much shorter than the full name.

In the spirit of being a 12 cylinder, this locomotive has 2 less 3x3 cylinders than my other locomotives with comparable power. Despite this, it is more powerful and more efficient. It is very similar in operation to the SD70M however does not feature an engine room starter. Also, in the spirit of GE locomotives, this one sounds very different from the emd’s, but very similar to the U30. This is because GE locomotives use 4 stroke engines that have more of a grumble than EMDs that have more of a whine.


Startup:
Starting the locomotive is a relatively easy task. First, flip on all the large breakers in the Breaker cabinet. Then check the isolation switch. The isolation switch isolates the prime mover (engine) from the electric generator in order to safely and easily start the prime mover. Make sure the isolation switch is set to "start/stop/isolate" before powering up or shutting down the engine. Once the generator is isolated. Then press the auto start button to initiate the auto-start sequence. the locomotive will prime first, then start up. holding the stop button will kill the engine. Once the engine has been started, wait about 8 seconds before setting the Isolation switch to "run".

Operating the locomotive:
With the prime mover started and the generator connected to the prime mover, you are now able to operate the locomotive. sit down in the engineer's seat and flip on the 3 switches labeled "run, fuel pump, and generator field". "Run", tells the locomotive that controls are being received from the control stand and not another locomotive, The fuel pump activates the secondary fuel pump, and "generator field", activates the electrical field of the generator, allowing the traction motors to be powered.

Now its time to get acquainted with the controls. The reverser decides the direction of the locomotive. Pushing it forward to 1 means it goes forward, and pulling it back to -1 means reverse. anywhere in between is neutral. The reverser cannot be moved if "Dynamic Brakes" or "throttle" is applied. By pulling back the throttle lever, the generator throttles up and the traction motors are powered. Throttle between 0 and -.3 is zero throttle and will allow the reverser to be moved. Throttle below -.3 will activate the dynamic brakes. These are used to maintain speed down hills or slowly braking but not to a complete stop. They serve little practical purpose in game since brake pads cannot be warn out the same way as they can IRL. the brake lever controls the brakes for the locomotive. By flipping up the switch "apply brakes to rolling stock", the braking output will be sent over composite channel 5 to all rolling stock that is compatible.

Slave system
This locomotive utilized the latest standardized Engine Slave Systems 1.4, and is mostly compatible back to 1.0 in all regards but dynamic brakes and rolling stock brakes. When the run switch is up, the locomotive is set to "master" and will broadcast it's current controls across connectors and over antenna. In order to turn a locomotive into a slave, flick the "engine run" switch to the off position. Now the slave systems have been set to receive controls rather than send. It will also transmit the controls it receives over radio and connectors. Then select whether or not it is receiving from the front connector, rear connector, or radio signal (defaults to front). If it is receiving from radio, make sure the master unit and slave are both on the same frequency. If the locomotive is facing away from the master, make sure to invert direction. A red light will come on to show that it is successfully inverted.

Also credits to Scxeech for doing most of the livery,
Festive lad designed the final Hi-Adhesion trucks.

As always, a template is linked. https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2775413128

Upcoming projects and their status ordered by priority:

1-SD70ACe V3.0- will begin work on the frame once another side project is finished

2-SW1500 Rebuild- needs to be properly scaled


3-SD40- yeah this is in questionable condition.