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Explain U.P.'s Gas Turbine locomotive's operation?
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[quote]QUOTE: <i>Originally posted by 4884bigboy</i> <br /><br />Yes UP used them regularly, they were no experiment! The Veranda offered by Lionel looks good, but I think BLI should make a super turbine, with a B unit and everything. That would be cool! <br />[/quote] <br /> <br />The super Turbine, Class 1-30 is coming out from Tower 55 and should be a nice model at a much less price than the brass ones. Overland has offered. <br /> <br />The Union Pacific was the one and only railroad to use the Gas Turbine and their use only lasted only about ten years of service for each of the three classes. Even the last ones, the 8500 horse power units were all retired in only ten years or less of service. They were extremely loud, much like a smaller jet plane and the diesels had increased in horsepower and reliability that special units were not longer needed. They were all custom in the context of production items as they were designed for the Union Pacific and not a catalog item with GE or anyone else. On the subject of Bunker C, the turbines were started on kerosene or diesel type fuel and switched over as they warmed up. <br /> <br />The 51 class standard Turbines and the 61 class Veranda's were only 4500 horse power and were used with two additional GP's the second half of their life. This gave them the power to keep trains rolling at higher speeds. The Tenders were added to the small turbines about 1955 after three years of use to increase their distance between fuel stops. Bunker C was the normal fuel and the first tenders were made by splicing two of the 4-12-2, 9000 tenders together as the 9000 class was scrapped starting in 1953 to 1956 or so. <br /> <br />The first of the 61 class received its tender from an 800 FEF-1 class and it was different from the other standard and Veranda's. The 1-30 class turbines all had fuel tenders converted from the FEF-1 class since they were going out of service by 1958 and several of the FEF-1's got the 23000 gal tenders from the 2 and 3 class after 1956 as they were sidelined. This was a way to use the tenders with the standard trucks and not the centipede trucks for the turbines. <br /> <br />I am happy to see the last turbines will be offered by Tower 55 as one of their first three projects according to their advertisement. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
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