Did (does) anyone make an HO brass or plastic GE U-50??? and when were they stopped being used? Was U.P. the only railway to use them?? thanks.
Overland Models made U50’s in brass. I believe they were sold painded and lettered
http://www.overlandmodels.com/
The Southern Pacific had U50’s too. Some had B-B trucks and some had D trucks
The Overland website lists both SP U50 D and UP U50D as in stock at $1229.00 om their May price list.
Not exactly. There were the U50 (sometimes called U50D) which had trucks and span bolsters from traded in 4500hp turbines, like Lionel’s HO model. They were powered by two V16 engines, the same as those used in the U25B and U25C.
Later there were the U50C which had trucks from traded in 8500hp turbines. They were powered by two V12 engines, similar to the ones in the U23B, U23C, B23-7, B30-7A and C30-7A.
There was a U50 (which was twin B trucks at either end, effectively a pair of U25B trucks at either end under a lengthened U25B body) and there was the U50C which was the same locomotive with twin C trucks (hence the C deisgnator)
According to “The American Diesel Locomotive” the UP had 23 U50s and 46 U50Cs, the SP only had 3 U50 locos. No other road brought them.
The only plastic model to have been made of the U50 was made by Con-Cor in N. Overland made an HO brass engine but not HO plastic engines have been made as far as i know.
Thankyou for the corrections.
This site has the Overland Union Pacific U50 's for $983.00[:D]
http://www.modeltrains.com/WEB%20-%20CMT/Overland%20Models/HO-scale/over-up-diesels.htm
not the same locomotive, and more than a U23B is the same locomotive as a U25B; or a SD40 is the same as SD45-2; or a Ford F150 is the same as a Ranger pickup…
They both were rated at 5000hp, and had two engines. On the U50, the radiators are at each end, one immediately behing the cab, and the other at the far end. On the U50C, the radiator section is in the middle. Effectively, the U50 is two U25B that have had a head on collision, then a cab was added to the rear of one. Similarily, the U50C is two uprated U23B that backed into each other. Look at the pictures:
Thanks for all the U-50 info. and the great photos,t ruly this would be my favourite "D I E S E L" engine, it sure makes the others look like big metal gym lockers with engines. thanks again. – Keith
well i was going by what the book said and from one picture (which was cab only) so i knew my info wasnt going to be 100%.
Have to say, the U50C is bloody ugly compared to the U50! Not as ugly as the DD35, DD35A and DD40X though and these are made as mass produced plastic models.
Hi Ross;
Sounds like one of Brian Hollingsworth’s books. The information in those books are so full of errors that they are worse than useless. The pictures are not bad, but the data is awful. Other errors include identifying GE locos as Alco Centuries.
No, its a Brian Solomon book, the paragraph with details on the U50s says “…GE also built an eight-axle, dual engine locomotive, deisngated U50, that used a B-B+B-B wheel arrangement, and later a similar locomotive with a C-C arrangement. Union Pacific was most interested in this type of locomotive. It broguth 23 U50s (and later 46 U50cs) and SP also acquired 3 U50s…”
People; check out this site for locomotive pictures:
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/search.html
There were 40 U50Cs not 46 as stated previously. Road numbers were #5000-5039. All were retired early due to their being built with aluminum wiring.
The DDA40X is the only one of the three EMD units ever made in plastic. The DD35 and DDA35 have never been offered in plastic. Athearn offers the never built DDA40. This model was dropped from the EMD catalog in 1966.
The UP always did go in for BIG engines.
All the replys are correct except there were no “D” truck U50’s, B+B only, then C trucks. Most of them had 1 million road miles when they were retired from service (courtesy my friend at the UP Mechanical Shop). I am so crazy for this model I am building a brass U50 B+B #31 in Garden Scale (1:29). It ends up being 33" long, 4" wide, 8" tall and 28 lbs. I have a traction motor for each axle (8 axles) but only draws 1.5 amps at 14 volts. Any and all correspondence is welcome (curious folks, mostly).
bluejay@aracnet.com
Bluejay,
You’ve got my attention, lets see some pre-production samples (photos) of your engine.
Did UP save any U50 series locomotives or were they all scrapped?
Since a at least one Turbine unit, and DDA40x were spared the scrap torch, I wondered if this was done for one of these giant U-Boats.
All U50 and U50C locomotives have been scrapped.
This is my Favorite GE engine ever. My dad grew up in Nebraska near the overland route, and has seen many of them and taken photos of many of them too. Unfortunately I have not gone through them yet, so I haven’t seen them myself. He says he has a photo of one somewhere, and a photo of the same engine a few months later black from an engine fire because of the bad copper wiring. Here’s a good link to u50 photos. and by the way, to those who wonder, the U50C is 10 times better looking than the U50.
http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php
http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?offset=15&where=search|-2|-2|-2||-2|u50|15|1||||||||-2|-2||-2|-2|||15|-2|-2||||
I think the U50’s were successful as they lasted from early 60’s until retirement from early to mid 70’s but the U50C’s have to be considered a huge failure due to the Aluminium wiring (who thought that up?) and they only lasted between 5-6 years before retirement in the mid 70’s. Both models cabs were easily damaged and drooped quite badly if involved in a wreak