Product Description
Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that EMD (Electro-Motive Division of General Motors) locomotive electrical cabinets — mounted in the short hood, long hood, or nose of GP-series, SD-series, F-unit, and E-unit road locomotives, and their Dash-2 successors — allegedly incorporated asbestos-millboard and asbestos-cement arc chute barriers, arc-shield inserts on high-current load contactors, and asbestos-based insulation on reversing and transition contactors.
According to publicly filed asbestos litigation records, high-current DC contactors in EMD cabinets allegedly generated significant arcing during transition and load changes, coating arc chute interiors in carbon and eroding the asbestos-containing barrier material. Railroad electricians allegedly replaced arc chutes, changed reversers and load contactors, and cleaned carbon-fouled cabinet interiors with compressed air, brushes, and rags — allegedly disturbing and aerosolizing asbestos fiber from the barrier material in the process.
Workers Exposed
- Railroad electricians replacing contactors, arc chutes, and reverser assemblies inside EMD locomotive electrical cabinets
- Railroad machinists performing adjacent power-plant work on locomotives with cabinets opened for electrical service
- Railroad shop laborers cleaning cabinet interiors and disposing of used arc chute components
- Railroad locomotive engineers and firemen exposed to residual dust when operating recently-shopped units
- Railroad car maintainers working alongside electricians in shared roundhouse space