The $5 Billion Smoke Screen: EMD’s Final Disaster

In 1995, EMD promised railroads the future: 6,000 horsepower from a single locomotive. The SD90MAC was supposed to cement their dominance for another generation. Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific signed billion-dollar contracts for locomotives powered by the revolutionary 265H engine—an engine that didn't even exist yet.

What followed was the most catastrophic engineering failure in modern railroad history.

The 265H four-stroke engine suffered catastrophic cooling failures, crankshaft bearing destruction, and reliability problems so severe that brand-new six-million-dollar locomotives couldn't complete a single revenue run. Union Pacific engineers called the SD90MAC-H the "Super Disappointment." The jokes spread industry-wide—but the financial damage was no laughing matter.

By 2008, Union Pacific retired its entire SD90MAC-H fleet. The 265H engines were cut up for scrap. Less than 70 units were ever built with the revolutionary engine that was supposed to sell thousands. Meanwhile, GE's market share climbed from 30% to over 70%, permanently reshaping American railroading.

In this video, we explore:

Why EMD abandoned 60 years of proven two-stroke technology
The "convertible" program that sold promises instead of products
The specific engineering failures that doomed the 265H
How GM's corporate neglect accelerated EMD's collapse
The 2005 sale to private equity and 2010 acquisition by Caterpillar
The closure of La Grange—once the world's largest locomotive factory

The company that invented the modern diesel locomotive destroyed itself with an engine it couldn't make work.

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