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Nostalgia & History > Riding tall in the saddleDate: 01/01/19 11:19 Riding tall in the saddle Author: santafe199 I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to ride in the high perch of a General Electric U50C. Countless words have been published about this unique, short-lived beast. But I doubt any written word could accurately describe an actual ride. So tall in the saddle, leading so much horsepower…
Hi-Yo, yellow & grey! AWAY! 1. UP 5012 leads a manifest near Echo, UT on May 15, 1971. (Ektachrome copy slide by Emil Albrecht, from the James W. Watson collection) Thanks for looking back! Lance Garrels (santafe199) Jim Watson (UP6900)  Date: 01/01/19 14:39 Re: Riding tall in the saddle Author: the_expediter Looks like something the Aliens left behind...I don't remember seeing these Whirybirds but probably did on vacation driving I-80 across WY in 1960s and 1970s on our annual sojorns to S. Dakota...THX...Stevie
Date: 01/01/19 16:02 Re: Riding tall in the saddle Author: santafe199 the_expediter Wrote: > ... I don't remember seeing these Whirybirds ...
In the early-mid 70s they were very common on trains through my home town (Manhattan) between Salina & KC. And then they just sort of disappeared right before I picked up a 35mm camera. I think I got maybe 2 Instamatic shots in the ol' collection, though. And I got several low-quality nose-coupled roster shots in the inevitable dead line up in Council Bluffs... Lance/199 Date: 01/01/19 16:34 Re: Riding tall in the saddle Author: Atlpete I have read/heard they were brutal to ride in; the 'B's hunted and bounced terribly due to their floating bolsters,
and the 'C's ex-turbine trucks had a variety of suspension spring based issues relative to their being re-purposed to this very different car-body power plant combination. All "heresay" and if there's one site that might have a real service veteran of these on it, it's this one. Please set me straight. Date: 01/01/19 18:56 Re: Riding tall in the saddle Author: Rathole I've talked to Cotton Belt engineers who ran the SP's 8 axle U50 locomotives and they said it was a spooky feeling going around a curve on those as the nose would stick out over the curve.
Date: 01/01/19 19:54 Re: Riding tall in the saddle Author: EastKSRailfan Great shot, Lance! I was lucky enough (and old enough) to photograph U50s when I was in Lawrence from 1973 to 1975, but the scenery, as you know, does not match the train in your photo. Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore.
CARL GRAVES, Lawrence, KS |