Nostalgia & History > Did somebody mention Centennials?

Four (count ‘em 4) Union Pacific 6900s up front! I was unable to ID the lead unit. But what a scene nonetheless...

1. UP train in Council Bluffs, IA with 4 Centennials on the point on October 30, 1980.
Original Kodachrome slide by James W. Watson.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels
santafe199
Remembering the late Jim Watson, aka ‘UP6900’

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Those engines are on a train, with the lead unit funning backwards? Was that a lite engine movemant? We engineers got paid by the weight on drivers, that man rang the bell with that consist.

I should have said "consist" instead of train. But the interesting thing would be to see 4 Centennials on one train...

Lance

Nice set there!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

Wowser.
Gonut

What a lineup!  Engineer might have told the YM "I'm not sure I can pull that train with only 4 6900's!"

Bob
 

These 4 are in "SS" status, stored serviceable, at Council Bluffs. By October of '80 there were only 9 Centennials left in service and the 6916 was not one of them. It kinda looks like the stack had been covered in plastic at one time too. These may be getting ready to move to Las Vegas as the first units went to there in October. Definitely a nice shot and I'm glad you posted it Lance as it kind of fills in a gap on the history of the units. Now if I could just find a shot or two of the ones that were stored at N Platte in 1980 and 1981.

x6924w Wrote: > ... These 4 are in "SS" status, stored serviceable ...

Thanks for the info. Jim probably didn't know that at the time, or he might have attached it to the slide. And I'll look through his stuff for some North Platte Centennial images from that time. Jim was a semi-regular visitor there throughout the 70s & 80s...

Lance

 

x6924w Wrote:
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> These 4 are in "SS" status, stored serviceable, at
> Council Bluffs. By October of '80 there were only
> 9 Centennials left in service and the 6916 was not
> one of them. It kinda looks like the stack had
> been covered in plastic at one time too. These may
> be getting ready to move to Las Vegas as the first
> units went to there in October. Definitely a nice
> shot and I'm glad you posted it Lance as it kind
> of fills in a gap on the history of the units. Now
> if I could just find a shot or two of the ones
> that were stored at N Platte in 1980 and 1981.

I remember reading that some or all Centennials (except the donated ones of course), were eventually sent to the desert somewhere as thier final resting place, where exactly would that location have been?

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

RailRat Wrote: > …. where exactly would that location have been?

Yermo?

Posted from iPhone

> RailRat Wrote:
>> …. where exactly would that location have been?

santafe199 Wrote:

> Yermo?

Yessir:

https://utahrails.net/up-diesel-roster/up-diesel-roster-62.php#dda40x-6900
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,5699678

Twenty five of the stored units were eventually returned to service for one last brief hurrah in 1984/85.

santafe199 Wrote: >... Yermo?
Evan_Werkema Wrote:  > ...  Yessir

Thanks for the links. I remembered the thread from '23, but I was away from home and couldn't look for it. And I only vaguely remember the thread from '15...

Lance