GE U25B
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Image:MILW U25B 5005.jpg Image:GE U25B front2.jpg Image:GE U25B rear.jpg Image:GE U25B plate.jpg The GE U25B was General Electric's first entry into the United States domestic diesel-electric railroad locomotive market for road locomotives.
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History
The U25B (nicknamed a U-Boat) was the first successful domestic diesel electric road locomotive designed built and sold by General Electric after its split with the American Locomotive Company, or Alco, a company dating back to the steam era. Along with Ingersoll-Rand, it was GE and Alco who built the first viable diesel-electric locomotive. GE had previously produced many diesel switchers and locomotives for export.
The U-Boat helped put GE on the road to being the top locomotive producer in the US, much to the concern of EMD. Though many were produced and sold, the only remaining U25B locomotives are in museums as many were retired or scrapped at the end of their service life by the end of the 1980s and early 1990s.
Preservation
Only one remains in operating condition. Southern Pacific 3100 is now on permanent exhibit at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California. Built in 1963, this locomotive was first numbered SP 7508. Later numbered SP 6800, it became a goodwill ambassador for the railroad in 1976 when it was painted in an elaborate red, white and blue color scheme in celebration of the nation's bicentennial. It was later renumbered, repainted in standard SP livery and was donated to the museum as such. 3100 is fully certified to run on any of the nation's railroads and is frequently used as motive power for off-site work trains.
A second U25B locomotive is currently undergoing restoration efforts at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL. Former Milwaukee Road engine number 5056 (built in 1965) is being both cosmetically and mechanically restored for operation on the museum grounds.
Specifications
| AAR wheel arrangement: | B-B |
| Engine: | GE FDL-16 |
| Power: | 2500 hp (1860 kW) |
| Production run: | April 1959 – February 1966 |
| Number sold: | 476 |
Original owners
| Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway | 16 | 1600-1615 |
| Chesapeake and Ohio Railway | 38 | 2500-2537 |
| Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad | 6 | 100-105 |
| Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad | 12 | 380-391 |
| Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad | 39 | 200-238 |
| Erie Lackawanna Railroad | 27 | 2501-2527 |
| General Electric (XP-24 testbed) | 2 | 751,752 |
| General Electric (demonstrator) | 8 | 753-756, 2501-2504 |
| Great Northern Railway | 24 | 2500-2523 |
| Louisville and Nashville Railroad | 27 | 1600-1626 |
| New York Central Railroad | 70 | 2500-2569 |
| New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad | 26 | 2500-2525 |
| Norfolk and Western Railroad | 1 | 3515 |
| Pennsylvania Railroad | 59 | 2500-2558 |
| St. Louis - San Francisco Railroad | 28 | 800-803, 808-831 |
| Southern Pacific Railroad | 68 | 7500-7567 |
| Union Pacific Railroad | 12 | 625-632, 637-640 |
| Wabash Railroad | 15 | 500-514 |
References
- Template:Marre-diesel-50
- Komanesky, John. General Electric U25B Roster. Retrieved January 27, 2005. States data from Extra 2200 South.