Western Railroad Discussion > UP Changes its paint scheme!!!

Well for at least one unit anyways...UP 7605 for some reason is painted up in GE Demo Syle paint, and is waiting to be picked up by CSX sometime eventually this decade (There were a total of 11 engines on the interchange, 4 BNSF, 2 CSX, and 5 UP). Does anyone have any clue as to why it is painted up in GE Demo colors?

Kyle

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Compare the data on the builder's plate with the unit behind it.

Could it be going to Colorado for testing?? (And later UP gets it back?)

The builders plate says that its just another engine in this order as the info on them is...

UP 7605/Bltdt Jan-07/Bld# 57542
UP 7606/Bltdt Jan-07/Bld# 57543

Both say just regular ES44AC's...you can see this in the pics of the two builders plates themselves.

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GE just wanted to make railfans chase this unit, rather than all the UP 70ACes. ;-)

Being a marketing sales major I would just take a guess and say up and ge reached a deal so that ge could get some free advertising. Ala nascar de train engine!

It's the new GE heritage locomotive.....

(Couldn't resist....)

Jody

Are we sure this isn't the hybrid prototype, out for test runs on the UP? It's definitely some sort of oddball - look at the grill just behind the cab, ahead of the dynamic vents.

Nathan

Let's CHASE IT!

TME

> Let's CHASE IT!

Well, duh. :)

Those grills are the new dynamic brake configuration on all the new ES44AC's, all the new UP's and BNSF's have this configuration. Thats also what is weird about this unit, from what I saw it shares all the same fetures and details as the normal painted UP units from this order, so I doubt that this is the hybrid...but I could be wrong.

NDHolmes Wrote:
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> Are we sure this isn't the hybrid prototype, out
> for test runs on the UP? It's definitely some
> sort of oddball - look at the grill just behind
> the cab, ahead of the dynamic vents.
>
> Nathan

CR4114 Wrote:
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> Those grills are the new dynamic brake
> configuration on all the new ES44AC's, all the new
> UP's and BNSF's have this configuration.

Oops, yup, you're right. I hadn't noticed that detail change from the early units until now.

Could this be the answer to this riddle???

From GE's webiste..


The future of rail is just around the bend.
GE engineers are designing a Hybrid diesel-electric locomotive that will capture the energy dissipated during braking and store it in a series of sophisticated batteries. That stored energy can be used by the crew on demand reducing fuel consumption and emissions by up to 15 percent when compared to our own industry leading GE Evolution® series locomotive.

How does it work?

More Information
The energy dissipated in braking a 207-ton locomotive during the course of one year is enough to power 160 households for that year. The hybrid locomotive will capture that dynamic energy and use it to produce more horsepower and reduce emissions and fuel use.
GE's hybrid locomotive's lead-free rechargeable batteries will be able to provide superior performance by allowing operators to draw an additional 2000 horsepower when needed.
Compared to a locomotive manufactured in 2004 (meeting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Tier 1 emission requirements for railroad locomotives), GE's hybrid locomotive is being designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions over its lifetime as much as taking 2,600 cars off the road for a year.
GE's hybrid locomotive is being designed to emit half as much nitrogen oxide as locomotives built 20 years ago.
Replacing every locomotive in North America manufactured before 2001 with GE's hybrid technology would, in a year, cut nitrogen oxide emissions as much as removing one third of all cars from U.S. roads.
If every locomotive in North America could operate as efficiently as GE's hybrid locomotive is being designed to operate, railroads could achieve a fuel-cost savings of $425 million dollars each year.

I was contacted yesterday by a employee from GE who builds these engines and he told me about 7605. "Hey, keep your eyes open for a new UP unit road number 7605 painted in the GE Evolution color scheme. I just saw it today coming out of test. I am not sure what the story is or why UP wanted their locomotive painted in our color scheme."

Dave Toussaint
Riverside, CA
SoCalRailFan.com

Looks like the Hybrid GEVO to me.

https://www.getransportation.com/general/locomotives/hybrid/hybrid_default.asp

Aaron

sooman1 Wrote:
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> Could this be the answer to this riddle???
>
> GE engineers are designing a Hybrid
> diesel-electric locomotive that will capture the
> energy dissipated during braking and store it in a
> series of sophisticated batteries.

I'd guess not. I see no reason why UP would number a unique test unit in the middle of a fleet of new units. Recall that the SD40-2 being used for emissions testing is numbered UP 9999, not in the usual UP 2xxx-3xxx series for SD40-2's.

-Justin

Could this be some sort of warranty protection locomotive?

It's UP's thanks to GE for all the new GEVO's.

Dave Toussaint
Riverside, CA
SoCalRailFan.com

No way it's a hybrid in the middle of an order and number series.

M-636 Wrote:
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> No way it's a hybrid in the middle of an order and
> number series.

Why not? GE did just that when they started testing EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) and split cooling on the Dash 8-40CW's. ATSF 925 was the only unit of their 60-locomotive order so equipped, and fell second to last in its number series.

While not a complete hybrid, perhaps 7605 has something new lurking under the hood, and GE and UP thought the demonstrater scheme would be a quick and easy way to keep track of a test unit.