Greetings All,
New Motors for the Blue Box Fleet
The NYCTL engine shop was busy this past month working to improve locomotive consisting capabilities and the overall performance for my Athearn Blue Box U28B and U30Bs.
Athearn BB U28Bs / U30Bs aka B-Boats
The four BB B-Boats in my fleet consist of two factory painted NYC U30Bs and two PC U28Bs that I painted on the Patti-O Paint Shop and lettered according to prototype photos in 2016. Two are powered with gold flywheel motors, one with an older non flywheel motor and one is non powered.
Prototype Information
The GE U25B was General Electric's first independent entry into the United States domestic road switcher diesel-electric locomotive railroad market for heavy production road locomotives since 1936. From 1940 through 1953, GE participated in a design, production, and marketing consortium (Alco-GE) for diesel-electric locomotives with the American Locomotive Company. In 1956 the GE Universal Series of diesel locomotives was founded for the export market. The U25B was the first attempt at the domestic market since its termination of the agreement with Alco.
The U25B (nicknamed U-Boat) was the first commercially successful domestic diesel electric road locomotive designed, built, and sold by General Electric after its split with the American Locomotive Company (Alco), a company dating back to the steam era.
The U25B was announced by General Electric as a domestic model on April 26, 1960. It was the first locomotive powered by GE's highly successful FDL-16 engine.
The U-Boat put GE on the road to becoming the top locomotive producer in the U.S., much to the chagrin of EMD. It introduced many innovations to the U.S. diesel locomotive market, including a pressurized car body and a centralized air processing system that provided filtered air to the engine and electrical cabinet, thus reducing maintenance.
"4/1/75, PC U25B 2643" by OHFalcon72 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/?ref=openverse.
The U25B was also the highest-horsepower four-axle diesel road locomotive in the U.S. at the time of its introduction, its contemporaries being the GP20 (2,000 HP) and the RS27 (2,400 HP.
The GE U28B diesel-electric locomotive model replaced the U25B in early 1966, featuring a slightly uprated prime mover (300 HP more power than the U25B). Early units had the same car body styling as the U25B, while later units had design features (shortened nose) more in common with later models. After only a year of production, this model was superseded by the U30B.
The PC operated five U28Bs, two from the NYC and three leased from the P&LE which were built on U25B frames.
The GE U30B was a diesel-electric locomotive produced by GE Transportation between 1966 and 1975. It was a further development of the U28B, with a 3,000 HP 16-cylinder prime mover. The U30B competed with the EMD GP40 and the ALCO Century 430, but was not as successful as the GE U30C.
PC U30B 2871 is one of sixty inherited from the New York Central (2830-2889). All were assigned to Selkirk for maintenance.
The GE U33B is a diesel-electric locomotive that was offered by GE in 1966, featuring a 16-cylinder motor. The NYC bought two and the PC later purchased eighty one.
U33B 2943 is one of sixty six U33Bs (2890-2955) ordered by the Penn Central in late 1968. In 1970 the PC picked up another fifteen U33Bs (2956-2970) from a cancelled Rock Island order. All were assigned to Selkirk for maintenance.
The four axle B-Boats above derived their railfan nicknames from their six axle big brother U-Boats to help distinguish between the two. Below we have a U33C and U25C in late 1976. Notice the leaves in the radiator of the lead unit.
Model Information
The older non flywheel U30B motor is a fast runner and is not compatible with the gold flywheel motors in the U28Bs. This unit basically sat in the box unless I swapped shells with one of the other B-Boats.
A recent purchase of five used six axle Athearn BB gold flywheel motors along with the six Cargill covered hoppers reported in the prior post moved the project to upgrade the NYC/PC U28B-U30B blue box fleet forward.
Using A-Line Couplings I was able to install the Athearn six axle motor into the four axle U-Boat. DC has its advantages for these motor swaps!
The Four B-Boats look good consisted together for the first time.
After dropping their train at North Side Yard newly repowered 2857 couples up to the transfer caboose for the ride home.
The 2822 leads the caboose hop back to Terminal Yard.
The B-Boats make their first revenue run.
With most of the U-Boats and B-Boats assigned to Selkirk as their maintenance base having them as frequent visitors to Terminal Yard makes sense to me. The newly repowered U28B-U30B consist is joined by the remainder of my U-Boat, B-Boat fleet at Terminal Yard.
B-Boats in Action!!!
Other Re-Motor Projects
B&O F7A Back to the Shop
I attempted to replace the motor in this old Athearn BB F7A but was unsuccessful.
Amtrak 503 Rides Again!
Athearn BB SDP40F 503 received a new six axle motor. The original was balky and I thought I had it fixed but after sitting several days the motor wouldn't turn unless I nudged the flywheel. This was a simple drop in replacement.
Final Thoughts & Comments
The five six axle gold flywheel motors originally believed to be a mix of four and six axle motors were purchased for $25.00 with free shipping. They have been more than worth that price. In fact this was another offer I couldn't refuse!!!
Thanks for reading and watching!!!
See you soon!!!
The N.Y.C.T.L. Maintenance and Engineering Department have outdone themselves in keeping the motive power fleet alive and of course, profitable - something the Penn Central could not do!
ReplyDeleteI liked how the Patti-O shop updated those engines and made them look as prototypical as possible.
This is the first I've heard of 'B-Boats' for those GE engines, and interesting background history on all of those locomotives.
Great job to the entire N.Y.C.T.L. crew (especially you, Sir John)!
Thank you very much Sir Neal!! I don't remember where I read about the B-Boat moniker but it obviously stuck in my head!
DeleteGreat work on the re-powering! I enjoyed reading the proto info about GE. I didn't know that they had split from Alco or that they had surpassed EMD at some point with the U Boats. With so many of these units based at Selkirk its likely I saw some in action when I was a kid living near the West Shore Line/ River Line on the Hudson River. I wasn't well versed on locomotive identification back then!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much Ralph!!! GE caught up and surpassed EMD in the 1980s and now holds a 70-30 percent of the market share over EMD.
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