Diesel-Electric Locomotive Specialists · Waycross, GA
Satilla Rail Services is a locomotive repair, parts, and brokerage company specializing in the GE Dash 8 — with full coverage of GE Dash 7 and EMD switcher, GP, and SD platforms — serving shortline and industrial railroads nationwide from Waycross, Georgia.
Motive Power
If it's GE 7FDL- or EMD 567/645-powered, we speak its language — and we know where its problems hide.
The Dash 8 is where Satilla Rail lives: 7FDL engine work, control systems, trucks, and everything in between. Dash 7 units are cut from the same cloth, and we service them accordingly.
567- and 645-powered switchers, road switchers, and their six-axle SD counterparts — the working fleet of shortline and industrial railroading.
…plus related variants across both builders. Not sure about your unit? Ask — it's a short conversation.
Capabilities
From running repairs to complete engine changeouts — performed on-site, documented properly, and built around minimizing your downtime.
Locomotive Systems Engineering
Satilla Rail Services also operates as a locomotive systems engineering firm. We build the software that keeps a fleet's records straight — and the electronics that don't exist off the shelf.
Software · SaaS
Custom maintenance-management (CMMS) software shaped around your operation — not a generic platform you bend to fit. Service records, inspection tracking, and fleet history, structured around the documentation 49 CFR Part 229 actually requires.
Embedded · Hardware / Firmware
Hardware, firmware, and software engineered for the locomotive environment. Recent work includes a machine-vision locomotive security system built on NVIDIA Jetson edge hardware with multi-camera coverage.
One firm, both disciplines: the wrench and the codebase — each informing the other.
On the Job
Track Record
Plus shortline railroads & industrial facilities nationwide
About
William Murray learned locomotives where the standard is unforgiving: nine years in the CSX Waycross Mechanical Department, one of the largest locomotive shops in North America. Six years of independent contracting followed — power assemblies, changeouts, inspections, and troubleshooting for industrial plants, shortlines, and rail-service suppliers across the country.
Satilla Rail Services, founded in 2024 and named for the river that runs through Waycross rail country, brings that Class I discipline to operations that can't afford downtime — one honest inspection, one properly documented repair at a time.
Common Questions
Satilla Rail Services is a Waycross, Georgia locomotive repair company specializing in the GE Dash 8 family. We perform field repairs at your facility — 7FDL power assembly replacement, complete engine changeouts, traction motors, air brake service, and FRA periodic inspections — for shortline and industrial railroads nationwide.
Under 49 CFR Part 229, the interval between any two periodic inspections of a locomotive may not exceed 92 days. The inspection covers the unit's mechanical, electrical, and air brake systems, and results are recorded on FRA Form F 6180-49A — the blue card posted in the cab. We perform and document 92-day inspections on-site, and can set up a recurring schedule for one unit or an entire fleet.
Yes. Alongside our GE Dash 8 and Dash 7 specialty, we maintain and repair EMD 567- and 645-powered locomotives — SW9 and SW1200 switchers, GP35 through GP40-2 road switchers, and their six-axle SD counterparts such as the SD40-2.
Yes. We replace GE 7FDL power assemblies at your facility — from a single cylinder to all sixteen — and we perform complete engine changeouts with crane support when a rebuild makes more sense than repair.
Sourcing units that fit your operation, pre-purchase mechanical inspections, condition and value assessment, and representation through the purchase or sale. Because we repair these locomotives for a living, our inspections tell you what a unit will actually cost to own — not just what it looks like on the auction sheet.
Yes — for GE and EMD platforms, up to and including complete engines and traction motors, drawing on a supplier network built over nearly two decades in locomotive mechanical work.
Yes. We build custom maintenance-management (CMMS) software for service records and inspection tracking, and we design embedded systems — hardware, firmware, and software — for locomotive and railroad applications, including machine-vision security systems on NVIDIA Jetson edge hardware. See Locomotive Systems Engineering.
Downloads
Practical, printable PDFs — built the way we use them in the field. Publishing soon.
A field-ready periodic inspection checklist aligned to 49 CFR Part 229 — walk the unit, check the boxes, file the record.
A clean wheel inspection and measurement report for documenting flange, rim, and tread condition across a unit or a fleet.
Get in Touch
A repair, an inspection coming due, parts to source, a unit to buy or sell, or a system to build — reach out and we'll give you a straight answer.
Based in Waycross, Georgia · Field service nationwide