Hey guys,
I’m searching for a video that features Union Pacific’s 8500hp turbodiesel.
It was supposed to be restricted to service between Iowa and Utah, or something like that because it sounded like a jet engine. Any ideas?
Yes, just google Union pacific “big blow” video
I got www.riverraisinmodels.com/up8500.html
It lists 4 videos
The range of the Big Blows was primarily between Cheyenne and Salt Lake. They were gas turbines rated at 8500 HP for traction. A small (400 HP?) auxiliary diesel-generator set was wired to two of the traction motors for movement within terminals without having to fire up the turbines.
Okay, I know I am being picky about this, but being the turbine nut I am, it is not considered a turbodiesel. It is a GTEL, or a Gas Turbine Electric Locomotive. They were originally constructed to produce 8500 gross horsepower, and were later upgraded to 10000 horses, making them the badest things on the rails, to this day. Numbers 18 and 26 are the only ones surviving to this day. They were restricted to certain areas, as they were loud. There are reports of the sound shattering glass, and the exhaust burning birds.
The best video I can reccomend is the Pentrex video “Union Pacific’s Might Turbines.” This is an excellent video, and includes information about all of their turbines, from the 1938 Steamotive, to the 1961 #80 Coal turbine.
Turbines ROCK! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
I don’t know about #8, but #18 is at the Illinois Railway Museum and #26 is at Ogden. [8D]
Oh crud, I zoned out, and didn’t put in #26, and I apparently didn’t hit the ‘1’ key hard enough, thank you for pointing that out.
Sorry, I was a proofreader in a previous life. Thought folks might want to know where they could see one of these giants of the rails.
Zoning out is alright, but don’t go to sleep in the open. The hawks will nail you every time! [:I]
No problem with being a proofreader, I do it frequently, but sometimes when I zone, I forget to do it with whatever I type.
I’ll watch for the hawks, thank you.[:p]
I remeber reading reports that the exaust was so hot that it would burn some of the paint off of the engines in tunnels, and I know of at least one person who swears that he saw one of them turn a crow into a fireball.
As I recall the heat was a big concern for where they could run as well. Would you want to be on the crew that has to bail out of one of those in a tunnel? I know I wouldn’t.
~METRO
Some time ago I heard that some of the UP 8500 hp Big Blows had traction motors on the oil tenders as well as the 12 on the control car and the turbine car. Can anybody verify this? Thanks
Enter “turbine” into the keyword field.
Try That
According to “The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide” published by Kalmbach, at least some units did have traction motors on the tender.
As for being the baddest thing on the rails, it was matched horsepower-wise by the EMD GM10 (electric) demonstrator. Tractive effort is different story as the GM10 only had 6 axles.