Nostalgia & History > Out-Of-Print Union Pacific Books

There are a couple titles of Union Pacific Books that I'm not sure if I have ever seen. Do these two titles exist? Both books have ISBN numbers; however, I don't have the ISBN for the second book.

Union Pacific Snow Fighters (ISBN 0-916160-09-2 / 0916160092), by George Cockle and Associates

Union Pacific Fast Forties (ISBN), by George Cockle and Associates

(I seem to recall seeing an ad. for the Union Pacific Snow Figher book having a Howard Fogg Painting of a UP Rotary Plow on the cover in Trains Magazine in the 1980's. That was about the same time that Centennials in Action, Union Pacific CA11's, and Giants of the West were in publication). It is also interesting to note that Books In Print has "Giants of the West" (ISBN 0916160122) still in publication.


Thanks for the help.

Russell
SD9E

Neither of the two books you listed were ever published. This was during a time that Overland Models was involved with George Cockle and then something happened between them and the books were never printed. Too bad as I think both of them would have been a nice addition to a Union Pacific book collection.

What's with the fuss over the "Fast Forties?" If that was a less desirable gear ratio for general freight service couldn't that have easily been changed during a shopping of the trucks? And if it's great to have some units geared for higher speeds (for business train helper service, say) is it that tough to have a few in a new order geared that way (or change bull and pinion in the shop sometime)?

During the 1970's, Union Pacific had a wide variety of power to choose from. Anything from F units in the early 1970's to the famed big jacks and SD40-2's. Even the E units could be found on the roster as late as the early 1980's (including the 951 and the 928 E8A). UP thus began the grand experiment of converting some SD40-2's to high speed. Thus, two classes of locomotives were available. The 8000 series augmented the 6900's, which also had the 59/18 ratio.

Toward the end of the program, the SD40-2's with the 80 MPH gearing (59/18) 8000 series were converted back to the original gear ratio and renumbered. However, some of the SD40-2's were delivered as "fast forties." These units were also convereted to the standard gear ratio, and renumbered into the 3000 series. As I recall, some of the GP40X's (9000-9005 as delivered) had different gear ratios. Some had the high speed ratio and others did not. The GP40X's were somewhat common in executive train service in the 1980's.

The 8000 series were the staple power for "hotshots," such as the Overland Mail Northwest (OMN) or the Apple (APL). I even remember seeing them pressed into service on the Hinkle Fruit. Hotshots, at term not as well remembered since most people like to use the term Z's now (MoPac Management).

SD9E