Nostalgia & History > UP Early Diesel yard Switchers

Here are three scanned images from a collection of 81 Union Pacific company photos of early yard switchers (NW2, SW7, SW9, TR5). The collection was in the form of a three-ring binder that was kept within the Mechanical Department.

These images are scanned from a series of high-resolution color copies of the black and white photos in the binder, sent to me in 1995 when I was putting together my book about Union Pacific switchers and slugs, published in 1996. Turns out we had enough photos for the book from other sources, so we didn't need to pay to have the photos in the three-binder prepared for publication.

All 81 images are in this album on my UtahRails web site...

https://donstrack.smugmug.com/UtahRails/Union-Pacific/UP-Diesel-Switchers/

Don Strack
http://utahrails.net/



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/04/19 05:44 by donstrack.

---

---

---

Nice Don. I like the comparison beween the EMC and the Alco switchers too.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Cool history! Nice of Uncle Pete to put your initials on them, eh Don... ;^)

Was D.S. 1036 delivered stackless, or did it get a stack fitted before delivery?  There's a builder's photo of Santa Fe S-1 #2304 in Iron Horses of the Santa Fe Trail showing it stackless as well (built June 1944).  All subsequent in-service photos I've seen show the unit with an exhaust stack that resembles nothing so much as a long length of drainpipe, undoubtedly fitted by the Santa Fe shops rather than Alco. 

I don't know the answer to Evan's question, but the Alco #1036 was delivered in September 1943. It was renumbered to UP #1100 in May 1945 to make way for more EMD NW2s which began delivery in May 1946.

Here three photos of the EMD #1036 at the EMD factory, from the same group of 81 photos as those in the original message.

Don Strack
http://utahrails.net/

---

---

---

Evan mentioned AT&SF adding "drain pipes" as extended exhaust stacks to their early Alco switchers. UP did the same thing on their early EMD NW2s, which were delivered with short stacks, as seen in the photo of #1002 in the original message.

Here is a photo of the exhaust stack extensions on UP #1012. Back in the day when I was working for UP, while working on the top of an NW2 with these same exhaust stack extensions, I took the opportunity to look down inside. The original short stacks were still there. If I recall, I measured the pipe, and it was 8 inches in diameter. But UP had at least two NW2s with 12-inch pipe stack extensions.

Don Strack
http://utahrails.net/ 

---

I took this shot of the 1012 in July 1975 at East Yard in L.A. Obviously the straight stacks were replaced at some time (don't know what these type of stacks are called).-BMT

---