Steam & Excursion > UP 6936 & 6900 together one last time

A few days ago there was a thread regarding some past maintenance work on the 6936.  That reminded me of what was probably the last time two Centennials ever ran together, back in 2005.  The 6900 was in a long process of being relocated from the former Kenefick Park site in near-downtown Omaha to its current home at Lauritzen Gardens.  As part of the process, the 6900 was sent to Mid-America Car in KC for a cosmetic reworking.  When it was complete, UP sent some business cars along with the 6936 to retrieve it and bring it back to Omaha.  Of course, the 6900 was not running but it sure looked good seeing two Centennials again for the last time.  Here's a couple of my shots from that March 10, 2005 trip.

1) East of Shannon, KS climbing the hill there and about to duck under US73.
2) Verdon, NE again about to pass under US73.  

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UP should make this a regular occurence

Two historic treasures.
Bob

dan Wrote:
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> UP should make this a regular occurence

Going to be hard to do now since the only Centennial UP owns is the one stuffed and mounted in the parking lot at Jenks shop.
I also witnessed that event. Have video coming through Bellvue somewhere.
It was the same day they moved the 4023 from the old ramp tracks across both UP and BNSF's main lines to stage it for the move to the new Kenific park.
Some of us knew about the 6900 coming back with the Wimmer inspection train so we took off to record it.
Because the house movers broke something and had both main lines blocked they snuck this train through the platform track next to Union Station.
The crowd was watching the mess with the 4023 when someone yelled LOOK and 200 heads and cameras did an about face to see the 6936 and 6900 together.
Steve

The first UP miles made by 6900 was hauling the Ross Rowland,
Golden Spike Centennial Limited, eariy May, 1969.

The 6900 + 2 SD35Ps hauled the Blue Train westward from KC, Mo. to SLC.
The SD35P locos were steam generator equipped....we had a two-unit diner, mid-train...

That was a LOT of rated HP, for 14 passenger cars!
( #6900 = 6,600 HP,  SD35P = 2,500 +2,500 =. 11,600HP for 14 cars...!)

Return trip after May 10, to KC, Mo. was hauled by ( I think it was) 
4, conventional, E-units ( E-8s?) ..... and they were rated at well above 90-per...
sooo... coming eastbound we were really FLYING!!!!!
The 'Train ran beautifully...

Somewhere in Kansas, we spent some station-time as UP carmen replaced many, worn-thin,
 brake shoes on the passenger cars 

Brand-new, 6900 did a wonderful job, on the out-bound leg..
( 6900s were , what?, rated for 65 MPH, with D77s?)

​W.

( On May 10, 1969, the Blue Train was hauled from SLC to near Promontory,
    for the rededication Ceremony, and return,   Hauled solo by, by 4-8-4, # 8444...
     at a very respectable, fast pace...😁).



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/22 10:22 by wcamp1472.

The 6900s were TT'ed at 82 mph, they only managed just over 100K in tractive effort with their high gearing.

Out 

Good stuff! That's a neat area of Kansas I never explored until after I got retired and back home in 2010...

Lance/199 

wpjones Wrote:
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> dan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > UP should make this a regular occurence
>
> Going to be hard to do now since the only
> Centennial UP owns is the one stuffed and mounted
> in the parking lot at Jenks shop.
> I also witnessed that event. Have video coming
> through Bellvue somewhere.
> It was the same day they moved the 4023 from the
> old ramp tracks across both UP and BNSF's main
> lines to stage it for the move to the new Kenific
> park.
> Some of us knew about the 6900 coming back with
> the Wimmer inspection train so we took off to
> record it.
> Because the house movers broke something and had
> both main lines blocked they snuck this train
> through the platform track next to Union Station.
> The crowd was watching the mess with the 4023 when
> someone yelled LOOK and 200 heads and cameras did
> an about face to see the 6936 and 6900 together.
> Steve

both of those engines should come out of the park 6900 and the 4023, shove the 6925 up there and the 838 or something, get the 6946, 36 have a triple header, i wanted to get out there for pictured double header but got too late of a notification>

Great pics. I never heard of this special. Thanks for posting.

Randy in PHX

Posted from iPhone

Yes, Great capture of a once in a lifetime event!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

Excellent photos of a historic event.
Thanks for your insightful posting.
ALLEN

Nice pics, any pics on them 2 together pulling a freight anywhere?

For anyone who rode them, how did they ride?

Sam

I was also unaware of this.  Thanks for sharing it.

Jim Barton

Trainhand Wrote:
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> For anyone who rode them, how did they ride?

Great, but with the caveat that it was running the 6936 only at low speed many years ago while switching at Portland Union Station.  I never got lucky enough to have it given to me to replace a failed Amtrak engine en route, but it's highly doubtful that any other Amtrak engineer ever did either.

Great pics!!

ProAmtrak Wrote:
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> Nice pics, any pics on them 2 together pulling a
> freight anywherre

the 6900 wasn't running , only trip was KC to omaha to be interned

dan Wrote:
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> ProAmtrak Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice pics, any pics on them 2 together pulling
> a
> > freight anywherre
>
> the 6900 wasn't running , only trip was KC to
> omaha to be interned

You didn't properly read what I asked!

Posted from Android

Trainhand Wrote:
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> For anyone who rode them, how did they ride?
>
> Sam

I asked a Union Pacific retired engineer this same question and this was his response 

Now...I started to mention the riding characteristics of the Centennial.  Interesting that you asked.  You would think that the long wheelbase and the 8-axle trucks would make for a very smooth-riding unit, but this is not the case.  It is a very rough riding locomotive...but thrillingly so at high speeds (have enjoyed riding fast trains over rough track ever since my Amtrak riding days as a teen).  It is not a case of wear, as the unit had a complete truck rebuild (every spring and bolster was replaced with brand new components), and, a spare sets of Centennial and E-unit trucks are kept on hand in Cheyenne just in case something happened, I guess.  No...these units ride as they did when they were brand new, which is rough. 

My understanding from old heads off the UP proper (the original part of the UP system) is that the two roughest-riding classes of locomotives were the GP40X's, with their unique HTB truck, and, the Centennials.  And these two classes of units were used in the highest speed service on the old original UP....after the E's were originally retired, the GP40X's were used as lead unit ahead of 2 F40's on the old San Francisco Zephyr, both for extra horsepower and for cab signal purposes (the GP40X's and the 6900's were both geared for 90 MPH operation, and the 6936 still is).  It's just a matter of truck design.  I think that the 4-axle GE's inherited from the Missouri Pacific finally surpassed both of these two classes of locomotives as being the roughest riders on the system.   

The 6936 is a fine, fast-accelerating, powerful, durable machine.  6600 horsepower, more horsepower than 2 GP40's.  It's just a rough-riding engine.  I have found it amusing when I look in the computer at the maintenance records, and find continous "engineer defects" noting "rough rider".  They check it out at the shop, lube the hell out of it, find that nothing is broken or worn, and send it back out, and some fellow writes it up immediately again!  I think they ought to put a sticker in the cab that says "NOTE:  This locomotive tends to ride rough at high speeds.  Do not be alarmed.  This is an operating characteristic of this particular locomotive design."  That might cut down on the write ups, which I find amusing, and I'm sure the Cheyenne folks find this amusing, also. 

The E-9's, in contrast, are some of the smoothest riding engines I've ever been on.  They always had a reputation, from the E-3 on up to the E-9, of being one of the smoothest riding diesels ever built. 
 

Great photos of the two together. The 6900 does look good on it’s perch in Omaha.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone