GE U30B

The GE U30B was a further development of the U28B road switcher diesel-electric locomotive, with a 3,000 hp (2,200 kW) 16-cylinder prime mover. It remained in production for over eight years. The U30B competed with the EMD GP40 and the ALCO Century 430, but was not as successful as the GE U30C.

GE U30B
Penn Central U30B #2879 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1970.
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder GE Transportation Systems Model U30B Build date May 1966 – March 1975 Total produced 295
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR B-B Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Prime mover GE FDL-16 Engine type V16 diesel Cylinders 16
Performance figures Power output 3,000 hp (2,200 kW)

After the merger between the Western Pacific and the Union Pacific, U30B 3051 was donated to the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in 1985.[1] Another one, VLIX 5323, is a former Louisville & Nashville U28B rebuilt to U30B specs.[2]

Original owners

Railroad	Quantity	Numbers	Notes
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad	4	975-978	Blomberg trucks
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway	33	8200-8222, 8225-8234	8223-8224 former GE demonstrators
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	5	150-154	to Burlington Northern 5480-5484
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad	5	6005-6009
General Electric (demonstrator units)	4	301-304	301-302 to C&O 8223-8224, 303-304 to WP 770-771
Illinois Central Railroad	6	5000-5005
Louisville & Nashville Railroad	5	2505-2509
New York Central Railroad	58	2830-2857, 2860-2889	to Penn Central, Conrail 2830-2857, 2860-2889
Norfolk and Western Railway	110	1930-1964, 8465-8539	High-nose
St. Louis - San Francisco Railway	31	832-862	to Burlington Northern 5770-5799
Seaboard Air Line Railroad	15	800-814	Blomberg trucks
Western Pacific Railroad	19	751-769	770-771 former GE demonstrators, all with Blomberg trucks

References

1. "Western Pacific 3051; 1967 GE U30B". Western Pacific Railroad Museum. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
2. "Past Equipment". Kentucky Railway Museum FanSite. Retrieved July 19, 2019.

• Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years: A Guide to Diesels Built Before 1972. Railroad Reference Series. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-258-2.

External links

• Media related to GE U30B locomotives at Wikimedia Commons
• Thompson, David. U30B Original Owners