Union Pacific’s General Electric U50C locomotives were the last double-diesel model to join the roster, beginning in late 1969. They were, however, the least successful of the three production models the railroad acquired.
GE built 40 U50C locomotives for UP between September 1969 and January 1971. (Their production dates largely mirrored those of the more successful EMD DDA40X.) They carried Nos. 5000-5039. They were 79 feet long, powered by two 12-cylinder FDL prime movers, and rode on two six-wheel trucks reused from UP’s gas-turbine locomotives. In contrast, the original U50 model produced between 1963 and 1965 was 83 feet, 6 inches long, powered by two 16-cylinder FDL prime movers, and rode on four four-wheel trucks connected by a span bolster.
Their first mention in Trains was, fittingly, in the May 1969 issue, which noted “The twin-engined (with V-12’s) A.C./D.C. 5,000 h.p. C-C’s will weigh 417,000 pounds, have a 5,000-gallon fuel capacity, and feature traction motors permanently connected in parallel.” A drawing of the new units appeared in the following issue. By contrast, a single U25B weighed 252,000 pounds.
The first 12 units were delivered sans nose door, a feature that later production units introduced. Those lacking, however, were later retrofitted by UP.
The units, however well intentioned, were plagued by fires in their aluminum wiring. By 1974, 10% of the roster was out of service following such fires. One unit was rewired with copper by UP but a proposal for Morrison-Knudsen to rebuild the remainder of the fleet was deemed cost-prohibitive. Their immense weight was also a factor, leading to frame cracks.
Ford Motor Co. leased four stored U50C locomotives from UP in 1978 to produce electric power during a coal strike. Nos. 5019 and 5027 served at Lorain, Ohio; No. 5039 served at Indianapolis; and Nos. 5017 and 5026 served at Hazelwood, Mo.
General Electric U50C locomotives Nos. 5000-5017 were retired in March 1977 with the remainder of the fleet following in February 1978. All 40 were scrapped, most at Erman-Howell in Turner, Kan., in 1979.
Share this article
