Union Pacific GTELs

The Union Pacific gas turbine-electric locomotives, known as GTELs, were built by Alco-GE and General Electric from 1952 to 1961 and run by the Union Pacific until 1970. Union Pacific ran the largest fleet of any railroad in the world and said the turbines hauled more than a tenth of its freight. The prototype, GE 101, was finished in 1948 and renumbered UP 50. Production came in three groups: units 51 to 60 from 1952, the Veranda units 61 to 75 from 1954, and the 8,500 horsepower Big Blow double units numbered 1 to 30, delivered from 1958 to 1961. The turbines burned cheap heavy Bunker C oil, but fuel economy was poor, and rising oil prices ended their use. The last run was in December 1969, their trucks were reused for the GE U50 and U50C, and two third-generation units survive in museums.