Nostalgia & History > North Platte memories: C855 & 2 unlettered UP units

All my shots at North Platte ...

1. Alco C855 #61, one of the ABA set UP had on Feb. 8, 1970

2. U30C #2932 on Sept. 4, 1976

3. SD40-2 #3160 April 1, 1972

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I was once told by a Mech Dept person the UP liked to letter its own units rather than EMD or GE. However, I am not sure that is true today.

Amazing how much difference a couple of red stripes make. The GE and EMD were one and two months old respectively, and the Alco was six months from retirement.

I never realized those unlettered engines actually ran out on the road that way but with exhaust smoke coming from the GE and road grime on the EMD, it looks like they ran that way more than just to the shop!

SP8595 Wrote:
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> I never realized those unlettered engines actually
> ran out on the road that way but with exhaust
> smoke coming from the GE and road grime on the
> EMD, it looks like they ran that way more than
> just to the shop!


UP did this on several occasions. They needed the power asap and instructed the builders to paint and ship, we'll letter them at later date. They did present a strange appearance on the road for sure.

KC

The 855s always looked like Alco was figuring out where to put stuff as they built it.

What are those flat boxes along the hand railing on the Alco? Sand hoppers?

lwilton Wrote:
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> What are those flat boxes along the hand railing
> on the Alco? Sand hoppers?

Yes. Those are the sand boxes.

Cheers,
Harry

Wow, I never realized that Alco had tried to build an answer to the U50 with the C855.

PasadenaSub Wrote:

> Wow, I never realized that Alco had tried to build
> an answer to the U50 with the C855.

There were only three, two cabs and one booster. UP wanted to make sure Alco was up to the task before committing to a large order. They weren't. The U50's weren't anything to write home about, either, but UP took an order of them and came back for more in the incendiary, even shorter-lived U50C's.