We would like to find a caterpillar D 17000 prime mover for our GE 44 Tonner. A freshly rebuilt unit, or a rebuild with low hours would be ideal. Any and all pieces or parts may be considered as well. No junk please, we have enough cracked cylinder heads, etc. to last awhile. In the event anyone out there has any ideas on updating to Cummins etc., or if you have actually done this to your locomotive, please give us your thoughts.

Wayne,

You might also want to post this at the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Enthusiasts (ACME) forum:

http://www.antiquecaterpillar.org/

and the Antique Caterpillar Machinery Owners Club (ACMOC) bulletin board:

http://www.acmoc.org/

These guys mainly are interested in Caterpillar construction equipment but someone there's bound to have a line on an engine for you.

Faced with a similar situation a few years back on a Davenport critter, I found old CAT heavy equipment people to be most supportive, and parts relatively easy to find. Unfortunately, instead of replacing the cracked block with a rebuilt for 6K, the organization instead spent tens of "upgrading" with a modern combination engine and transmission.

I'd stick with the original stuff - surf the web, you will find lots of sources out there if you get away from railroading and into heavy equipment.

dave

You might want to contact Streigal Supply of PA or Washington State. They have many older diesel parts not found elsewhere.