Nostalgia & History > No more revenue miles for these GTEL'S

A little follow up from yesterdays post-Cheyenne, WY 1970.

Thanks for looking,

J. Dean Sheldrake
Silverton, OR

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I sure wish I could have witnessed a 'Big Blow' racing along The Overland Route'! Does anyone know for sure, aren't two sets still in existence? Seems I remember seeing one in Ogden on display.

Posted from iPhone

One is in Ogden as you say, see attached. If I recall correctly, the other is at Illinois Railroad Museum in Union, IL.

Best regards,

Rob L.

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#18 is the one in Illinois.

Mark

Here is a picture of Union Pacific #18 at the Illinois Railway Museum on September 15, 2012.

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Pardon my ignorance, I led a sheltered life on the Great Northern. What is a GTEL?......Swede.....Albany,Or.

No revenue miles for the GTEL's, But plenty for the Tenders

GN_X838 Wrote:
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> Pardon my ignorance, I led a sheltered life on the
> Great Northern. What is a
> GTEL?......Swede.....Albany,Or.


Gas Turbine Electric Locomotive

some GN electric carbodies were used if you want to test your GN link

valmont Wrote:
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> GN_X838 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Pardon my ignorance, I led a sheltered life on
> the
> > Great Northern. What is a
> > GTEL?......Swede.....Albany,Or.
>
>
> Gas Turbine Electric Locomotive

(a.k.a. The 'Big Blow' due to the jet engine noise generated by the turbine engines.)

Posted from iPhone

rob_l Wrote:
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> One is in Ogden as you say, see attached. If I
> recall correctly, the other is at Illinois
> Railroad Museum in Union, IL.

Out of curiosity is there anything inside them, or are they shells?

dan Wrote:
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> some GN electric carbodies were used if you want
> to test your GN link

Only one GN class W carbody was used to become the unsuccessful coal-fired turbine. No GN electric carbodies were used to make the GTELs, GE did those carbodies all-new in Erie.

Best regards,

Rob L.

Thank you , my education is not complete but it is getting there. The "W" electric was very
apparent when it was on the head end. I saw it quite often when I was putting and taking
mail off at leavenworth.....Swede....Albany,Or.

GTELs = PA's on Steroids.

Being from Utah I should know this, but I'm pretty sure the actual turbines were removed from #26 and #26B, but the "B" unit retains a small hostling diesel that could theoretically be used to move the unit around.

mwbridgwater Wrote:
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> #18 is the one in Illinois.
>
> Mark

Is this the same one I saw in Kansas City about 20 years ago?

Ehrman (sp)? was scrapping a bunch in KC. Might have seen it.

Posted from Android

Dean,

Thank you for sharing both these turbine photos and those of the steam in storage at Cheyenne in 1970. I too visited Cheyenne during this era when the Turbines were in storage next to the engines they replaced a decade or so earlier. The UP staff in Cheyenne was very friendly in those days, and it was easy to drive right into the yard and right up to the steam and GTEL power. Although I loved all of the turbines, my personal favorites were the 4500 HP "Veranda's" that were gone by 1964. One of the photos shows a round fuel tender from the old 4500 HP turbines, either a Veranda or a "Panel Side" (standard) GTEL. The 1-30 series "Big Blows" were even more impressive, and made a roaring sound much like gravel or coal going down a metal chute. Many UP rails I knew called them "bird cookers" since any bird flying too low when a turbine passed underneath got cooked in flight by the high temp exhaust. We used to watch and chase all three types on old US Highway 30 across southern Wyoming. Green River, WY was another great place to see the turbines since trains headed for Pocatello and the northwest had their turbine power replaced with diesels there.

Thanks again for some great family photos of the most unique engines on the Overland Route, which were a part of my family adventures as well...

ShastaDaylight

Chico43 Wrote:
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> mwbridgwater Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > #18 is the one in Illinois.
> >
> > Mark
>
> Is this the same one I saw in Kansas City about 20
> years ago?

Yes. I discovered it stored there amongst industrial buildings while railfanning as a teenager in the late '70s. At that time, at least, it was completely intact internally.

Mark

davew833 Wrote:
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> Being from Utah I should know this, but I'm pretty
> sure the actual turbines were removed from #26 and
> #26B, but the "B" unit retains a small hostling
> diesel that could theoretically be used to move
> the unit around.


Only the B unit had a turbine in it. The small hostling diesel was located in the A unit.