Does Cummins Make Train Engines?

If you follow the comings and goings of the diesel engine scene, Cummins is a name that you are surely familiar with. The Indiana-based company has, after all, been a major player in the diesel arena for more than 100 years now and feels primed to be around for 100 more. While Cummins once boasted a partnership with Ford Motor Company, if you are familiar with the company's name, it's almost certainly because you drive, or have considered driving a Ram truck. After all, the best Cummins diesel engines from virtually every generation spanning the past few decades have powered Ram-branded vehicles, and those trucks tend to be renowned for both their reliability and pulling power. 

Of course, Cummins does not solely make and manufacture power plants for Ram-branded pickup trucks. The company's engines have also been popular in the long-haul trucking arena and are not uncommon to find under the hood of school buses, fire trucks, and ambulances, as well as all manner of heavy duty machinery trudging over construction sites and ranching lands in all parts of the world.

Furthermore, Cummins makes some of the most powerful, durable, and emissions-friendly diesel-fueled train engines you can find on the railways and was even responsible for the power plant behind the very first diesel railcar to traverse a U.S. railway.

If you're curious about the Cummins engine that powered America's first diesel railcar over the Reading Railroad in 1932, it was a 6-cylinder, 125 horsepower Model H, and it allowed the vehicle to accelerate up to 55 mph. Cummins' railway prowess has only grown in the ensuing nine decades, with the diesel outfit now boasting more than 40,000 engines in use over all corners of the world.

Cummins has continued to develop and manufacture new engines for its railway lineup since taking the tracks by storm. These days, the company offers a full range of engines fit to cover the demanding power needs of trains boasting various certifications. As you might expect, those offerings also offer a wide range of power output, with horsepower clocking in at about 450 hp on the low end. Of course, when it comes to riding the rails, power is very much at a premium, as it takes a lot to get a train moving and keep it in motion. If raw diesel power is what you're looking for, Cummins' QSK95 looks to be the train engine for you.

In terms of power output, the QSK95 is a legit beast, as the 16-cylinder engine produces horsepower up to 4,400 hp (at 1,800 RPM) and boasts max torque at 12,838 lb-ft. The engine is also fitted with four compact single-stage turbochargers that deliver best-in-class acceleration and, perhaps just as importantly, has earned Tier 4 and Stage 5 emissions certifications, which no doubt ranks it among the cleaner burning diesel train engines out there.