Union Pacific Gas Turbine Locomotives Appreciation post

They were powerful as fuck; and UP tried to use these lads to replace the big boys for a reason

337 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

u/weirdal1968 20h ago

UP loved their big power locomotives. Big Boys, GTELs and Centennials not to mention the also rans like the coal turbine, GE U50C and ALCO C-855.

15

u/BrickAntique5284 20h ago

I kinda wish the coal turbine was preserved. It was a failure, but failures should still be preserved

9

u/weirdal1968 20h ago

Agreed but for me it has to do with it being a highly modified Great Northern W-1 electric.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Northern_W-1

u/ThePlanner 19h ago

What’s crazy is that the super high horsepower of the first and second generation GTELs is now achievable with a single passenger locomotive on commuter service (MPI Xpress MP54AC @ 5,400 hp).

9

u/DanforthWhitcomb_ 19h ago

The first and second gen ones were only good for 4500hp, not 5400.

5400hp+ has been achievable in a single locomotive since the mid 1960s—ALCo was the first with the C855 (5500hp) in 1964 and was followed by EMD with the DD40Xs (6600hp) beginning in 1969.

7

u/totallynaked-thought 16h ago

There was also the HP war of the 90s with GE and EMD AC6000CW & SD90MAC respectively. Neither were spectacularly reliable and sort of brought the “law of diminishing returns” into focus. It became obvious that using distributed power in heavy consists was a better idea than loading up on one or two engines in front. Ironically, distributed power is sorta how the Big-Boys lived out their twilight years no?

2

u/ThePlanner 9h ago

Those were both very impressive locomotives. My point, though, is that it’s interesting that the horsepower race of the 60s, and UP’s RFP for high-horsepower 15,000 hp three-unit lash-ups, produced some incredible results, and similar horsepower is now relatively commonplace, including the commuter locomotives that take my train into the city everyday.

u/AmericanFlyer530 16h ago

Ah, the overpass melter

3

u/BrickAntique5284 9h ago

The bird burner

u/SirBaronGaming25 19h ago

Hell yeah brother

u/Sea-Mall586 8h ago

The UP was also trying to cut fuel costs. The GTEL’s used bunker B (I believe, I may have been bunker C) oil. A very unrefined oil which made I cheaper than diesel.

2

u/GunmanZer0 6h ago

It’s unrefined and extremely polluting.

1

u/Sea-Mall586 5h ago

So were steam engines they were replacing. That was not a concern then.

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u/OdinYggd 1h ago

Bunker C, which at the time was cheap and abundant as a leftover from making Gasoline and Diesel.

Eventually the leftovers that had been used in Bunker C became a feedstock for plastics, leading to increases in its price. Probably for the best given the sulfur and heavy metal emissions, but container ships continue to burn this while in international water.