Sitting in the Pennsylvania Northeastern's yard in Lansdale is PN C39-8 8212, built by General Electric in August 1986 as Corail 6021 (later sold to Norfolk Southern, becoming NS 8212, and later sold to National Salvage & Service in May 2010, then ending up as NSSX 8212 and then New Hope & Ivyland (retaining the number 8212) before being sold to PN.
A total of 161 C39-8 locomotives were built for two North American railroads: Conrail and Norfolk Southern Railway. The C39-8 was a fairly unpopular locomotive with crews, cited factors such as a rough ride, tendency to overheat, frequent turbocharger issues, issues with the fuel injection system, and various other reliability issues. Today, apart from Norfolk Southern's test bed, Pennsylvania Northeastern Railroad's former Norfolk Southern 8212 is the last C39-8 in active use in North America ... although, as I understand it, this locomotive has not been in service for a while. (15 Norfolk Southern units were sold to Peru's Ferrocarril Central Andino [FCCA] in 1999, although many of them have been rebuilt by shortening the radiators.)
(Lansdale, Pennsylvania – September 27, 2025)
Photographed on railroad property with permission and full PPE.
