Today we're taking a look at model of an unusual prototype - a General Electric built Gas Turbine Electric.
GTEL History: There have been gas turbine locomotives built and used in various countries at various times, but today we're focusing on the ones built by GE for Union Pacific. As I've mentioned before, in the mid 20th century UP was looking for very powerful locomotives to handle ever increasing traffic volume, and during this time they were also looking for a replacement for steam locomotives. Into this arena, in November of 1948, GE would introduce the demonstrator GTEL, which was numbered UP 50 and tested by UP, though they never owned it. This first GTEL put out 4,500hp from the turbine designed and built for this purpose, which was approximately triple what any contemporary diesel was capable of. It also burned "Bunker C" fuel oil, which is a thick, low grade oil that's a leftover of the refining process from crude oil to higher quality fuels like gasoline and diesel. This all meant that Bunker C was very cheap and readily available, which was good, as the turbines burned it prodigiously. "UP 50" would prove successful and garner an order of additional units, which would be the first iteration of the GTEL design actually purchased by UP, and the first was delivered on January 28, 1952. The first batch would have full carbodies, like an EMD F unit, but during the construction of these units, UP would order 15 more with a different design - an open exterior walkway on each side. This new design would earn the nickname "verandas", and is the style we're looking at today. There would be one more iteration on the GTEL - the 8500 series, which put out a whopping 8,500hp.
Eventually UP would switch from Bunker C to No. 6 heavy fuel oil in the turbines, but several issues would prove the GTEL's undoing. The fuel would become more expensive, and considering the GTELs burned a lot of it, this was especially bad; soot buildup and blade erosion due to corrosive ash; they were also extremely loud - similar to a large jet running wide open at ground level.
As with essentially all alternative power experiments, the GTEL would prove inferior overall to diesels, and they were all retired by February of 1970.
P.S. - I left out some minute, in depth detail in this section. There's an enormous amount available on all three types of GTEL, and to fully cover them would probably require an article to itself, and maybe even a book. But I'll go into more detail on today's prototype below.
UP 64 History: 64 was built by GE in April of 1954. It was equipped with the specially designed and built GE turbine, which produced 4,500hp, which powered 4 two-axle trucks (B+B+B+B) connected by a span bolster. In addition to the turbine, the unit contained an auxiliary diesel engine, which would be used to spool up the turbine, and to move the locomotive around in yards. 64 was originally delivered without a tender, but the onboard 7,200 gallons of fuel was not sufficient, so tenders taken from FEF-1 4-8-4s and rebuilt were used to increase fuel to 24,000 gals. 64 would be put into freight service on the UP and prove reasonably successful, but would only serve until retirement in August of 1963 - not an impressive lifespan for a locomotive. However, various components from 64 would find further use - the trucks and span bolsters were removed and refurbished by UP and sent to GE to be used on the U50 diesels. The carbody would then be scrapped by UP. None of the Veranda turbines were preserved, though 2 of the later 8500 "Big Blow" units were preserved.
Box info.
You may notice there are no ladders from the walkways to ground level - these were provided in a detail bag.
I assume they were not installed because of the truck movement around curves; they could hit.
This mess of wires from the tender to the loco isn't very impressive.
Perhaps a braided one, or similar, would have been better.
Ratings...
Good: As you can probably tell, this one was great. It looks great, runs great, and sounds great. Build quality overall is excellent, and weight is good as well, with the loco being 1lb 9.4oz, and the tender being 4.5oz. The tender is very light, but that's perfectly fine, as it's not flimsy or fragile feeling.
Bad: As is common on Athearn stuff, some of the small details feel a little flimsy, particularly the handrails. Also there's a minor smudge on the frame stripe. The wiring from loco to tender could do with a redesign to a more tidy and modern setup.
Overall: It's a mighty fine model. An unusual and interesting prototype, presented very nicely in model form.
Thanks for looking!
Great video thoroughly enjoyed it. I really like the looks of this loco and how it handles on the track