GE U30C

The GE U30C is a six-axle locomotive that General Electric built from 1966 to 1976, with 600 units sold. It gave customers who could not buy EMD SD40s because of that builder's production backlog a workable alternative, although its electrical system had a reputation for reliability trouble. It served mining, general freight and coal operations, and one unit even powered the Department of Transportation subway-car test track at Pueblo, Colorado. Six passenger-version U30CGs were built for the Santa Fe. GE later ran a rebuild program that turned older Universal Series units into C30-S7R, C30-S7N and C30-S7NMP locomotives, and its replacement was the C30-7. Preserved examples include Burlington Northern number 5383 at the Illinois Railway Museum.