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The GE U23B is a 2,250 horsepower diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation from 1968 to 1977. It was one of the most successful models of the Universal Series, with 481 units built, including 16 exported to Peru. The U23B was replaced by the B23-7.
Featuring a 12 cylinder FDL engine, the U23B was a derivative of the U30B with a lower horsepower rating, producing 2,250 hp compared to the U30B's 3,000 hp. [1]
A variant with 6 axles instead of 4 was produced, known as the U23C.
| Image | Railroad | Quantity | Numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway | 49 | 6300-6348 | |
| Chesapeake and Ohio Railway | 30 | 2300–2329 | Blomberg trucks | |
 | Conrail | 10 | 2789–2798 | |
| Delaware and Hudson Railway | 16 | 301-316 | ||
| Ferrocarril del Pacífico | 10 | 537-546 | ||
| Lehigh Valley Railroad | 12 | 501-512 | financed by USRA, to Conrail 2777–2788 in 1976 | |
 | Louisville and Nashville Railroad | 90 | 2708–2772, 2800–2824 | FB-2 trucks |
| Milwaukee Road | 5 | 4800-4804 | ||
| Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad | 3 | 350-352 | ||
 | Missouri Pacific Railroad | 39 | 668-674, 2257–2288 | FB-2 trucks |
| Monon Railroad | 8 | 601-608 | to L&N 2700–2707 in 1971 | |
| Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México | 30 | 9100-9129 | 9114-9121 AAR type-B trucks, all others FB-2 | |
| Penn Central Transportation | 77 | 2700–2776 | to Conrail 2700–2776 in 1976 | |
| Southern Peru Copper | 16 | 40-45, 50-59 | FB-2 trucks | |
| Southern Railway | 70 | 3900-3969 | High-nose, 3900–3914 with AAR type-B trucks, 3935–3969 with FB-2, all long hood forward | |
| Texas Utilities | 1 | 103 | ||
 | Western Pacific Railroad | 15 | 2251–2265 | Blomberg trucks |
 | This section possibly contains original research .(August 2021) |
Not many U23Bs still exist, but a few shortline and regional railroads still use them in everyday service. The Georgia Central Railway was one of the last U23B holdouts, rostering almost all of the remaining ex Southern Railway (U.S.) high short hood U23Bs. The Georgia Central as of July 2015 has all of its U23Bs off of the roster with the 3965 going to the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum in Oak Ridge, TN. Another U23B, CSX 9553, former L&N 2817, is preserved at the museum and is operable.
The Huntsville and Madison County Railroad Authority in Huntsville, AL, operates one of the last U23B's used in daily freight service, as of April 2020. HMCR 9554 was originally built in late 1974 as L&N 2800. The last U23B built, originally Conrail 2798, and more recently Providence and Worcester 2203, is in regular freight service at the Naugatuck Railroad in Thomaston, Connecticut.
Western Rail Inc in Airway Heights, WA currently has a U23B that is leased out to other railroads. It is numbered NIWX 2204 and is a Northern Illinois and Wisconsin locomotive. RJ Corman operates at least one, Road Number 2300, after acquiring the Lehigh Railway short line in Northeast Pennsylvania.
The GE U25B is General Electric's first independent entry into the United States domestic road switcher diesel-electric locomotive railroad market for heavy production road locomotives since 1936. From 1940 through 1953, GE participated in a design, production, and marketing consortium (Alco-GE) for diesel-electric locomotives with the American Locomotive Company. In 1956 the GE Universal Series of diesel locomotives was founded for the export market. The U25B was the first attempt at the domestic market since its termination of the consortium agreement with Alco.
The GE U28B diesel-electric locomotive model replaced the U25B in early 1966, featuring a slightly uprated prime mover. Early units had the same car body styling as the U25B, while later units had design features more in common with later models. After only a year of production, this model was superseded by the U30B.
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The EMDSD7 is a model of 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between May 1951 and November 1953. It had an EMD 567B 16-cylinder engine producing 1,500 horsepower (1.12 MW) for its six traction motors. United States railroads bought 188 units.
The SD45 is a six-axle diesel-electric locomotive class built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1965 and 1971. It has an EMD 645E3 twenty-cylinder engine generating 3,600 hp (2,680 kW) on the same frame as the SD38, SD39, SD40, and SDP40. As of 2023, most SD45s have been retired, scrapped or rebuilt to SD40-2 standards.
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Media related to GE U23B locomotives at Wikimedia Commons