Progress in Railway Mechanical Engineering 2019 – 2020 Survey – Locomotives

This survey reports on motive power developments for the previous year ending in August 2020. Invitations to collaborate were sent to several locomotive builders and railroads. The survey looks at the scope of new and rebuilt motive power during the past year. During this time, several Class 1 railroads have heavily adopted the rebuilding and modernization of existing motive power. The survey also looks at how the needs of the railroads are changing in terms of motive power both due to Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) and also due to the novel Coronavirus pandemic. Finally, this survey will conclude with a look back at the high horsepower race following the retirement of the EMD SD80MAC locomotives from Class 1 ownership.