page_title: GE Evolution Series
section_title: ES44C4
hierarchical_section_title: GE Evolution Series / Models / ES44C4
caption_attribution_description: English: Rear view of brand new BNSF Railway ES44C4 no. 8270.
context_page_description: The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems, initially designed to meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. The first pre-production units were built in 2003. Evolution Series locomotives are equipped with either AC or DC traction motors, depending on the customer's preference. All are powered by the GE GEVO engine.
  The Evolution Series was named as one of the "10 Locomotives That Changed Railroading" in the January 2009 issue of Trains Magazine. It was the only locomotive introduced after 1972 to be included in that list.
  The Evolution Series, mainly the ES44DC, ES44AC, and ET44AC, are some of the best-selling and most successful freight locomotives in United States history.
context_section_description: The ES44C4 (Evolution Series, 4400 HP, C to denote 3 axles per truck, 4 traction motors) was introduced in 2009. While similar to the ES44AC, the ES44C4 has two traction motors per truck, instead of the conventional three such as on the ES44AC. No ES44C4s with DC traction were built.  The center axle of each truck is unpowered, giving an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement. BNSF Railway is the launch customer for this model, ordering an initial batch of 25 units numbered 6600-6624. As of 2020, BNSF Railway currently rosters over 1200 ES44C4 units. The 4200's and units 7921-7999 are certified as Tier 4 Credit units, while the others are Tier 2 or Tier 3. It is speculated that as many as 288 more units are on order, to be numbered 5547-5599, 6439-6499, 8292-8317, and 8600-8748. On 30 January 2014 Florida East Coast Railway announced that they would buy 24 ES44C4s, to be numbered 800-823, for heavy haul service and intermodal traffic. All were delivered by the end of 2014, in order to beat the EPA's deadline on exhaust-emissions standards for new-built Tier 3 locomotives.
  A unique feature of these units is that there is a variable traction control system in their computer systems. One of the differences between an ES44AC and an ES44C4 are the air cylinders and linkages on the truck sideframes of the ES44C4; these are part of the traction control system. Every time a variation in grade, traction, or wheel slip occurs, the computer will adjust the pressure in these cylinders to maintain sufficient adhesion, by varying the weight on the drive axles.
caption: Rear view of brand new BNSF Railway ES44C4 no. 8270, at Ashland, Nebraska, on October 19, 2014.
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