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UP U50 41

Union Pacific Railroad U50 41 at Council Bluffs, Iowa on May 2, 1965, Kodachrome by Lou Schmitz, Chuck Zeiler collection. Built around August 1964 ( c/n 35101 ), retired and traded to GE January 1974.

 

The numbers 1 72 appear in the engineer's side number board, and at the time of this photo, the UP ( and the SP ) were using the number boards to display the train number, not the locomotive number, so perhaps this locomotive last worked the first section of train # 72. The trucks and connecting span bolsters came from retired gas-turbine locomotives.

 

This locomotive was essentially two U25B's on a common frame. The UP had determined that the maintenance costs were independent of the power output of the locomotive, so the concept was to reduce maintenance costs by using a few large locomotives in place of several smaller locomotives. See the link below for more information

. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_U50

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Uploaded on November 21, 2018
Taken on May 2, 1965