by Allen Hazen
If you've got the old Kalmbach "Diesel Spotter's Guide" (or, I think, the newer Historical Guide to Diesels), turn to the pages for GE U30 locomotives. There is a photo of the radiator areas of a pair of Norfolk and Western units, a U28B and a (1967-built) U30B, showing a change in the radiator design.
New york Central had two, 1966-built, U28B locomotives, 2822 and 2823 (2800-2821 were P&LE units, and of an earlier design). No problem there: they had the U28B radiator style. New York Central also got one of the first big orders of U30B locomotives, 2830-2859 built in January and February 1967 (and 2860-2889 later in the year). I have always assumed that these units (other than 2858 and 2859 which had "wingspan" radiators as a test for the design that GE was going to introduce on the U33 models) had the 1967 U30B style.
Not so! Looking at pictures on George Elwood's "Fallen Flags" railphoto site, I noticed that the first few had the earlier, U28B, radiator style. Assuming that GE built the new York Central units in order, units up through at least 2834 have the 1966-style radiators, and the 1967-style was introduced no later than the 2840.
It's a really trivial bit of history (obviously GE thought the design change was minor enough to make in the middle of a single order!), but if anyone has pictures of NYC U30B locomotives in the 2835-2839 series and can tell me just when the change was made....
--(signed) An Aging U-Boat Fan (in both senses!)
New york Central had two, 1966-built, U28B locomotives, 2822 and 2823 (2800-2821 were P&LE units, and of an earlier design). No problem there: they had the U28B radiator style. New York Central also got one of the first big orders of U30B locomotives, 2830-2859 built in January and February 1967 (and 2860-2889 later in the year). I have always assumed that these units (other than 2858 and 2859 which had "wingspan" radiators as a test for the design that GE was going to introduce on the U33 models) had the 1967 U30B style.
Not so! Looking at pictures on George Elwood's "Fallen Flags" railphoto site, I noticed that the first few had the earlier, U28B, radiator style. Assuming that GE built the new York Central units in order, units up through at least 2834 have the 1966-style radiators, and the 1967-style was introduced no later than the 2840.
It's a really trivial bit of history (obviously GE thought the design change was minor enough to make in the middle of a single order!), but if anyone has pictures of NYC U30B locomotives in the 2835-2839 series and can tell me just when the change was made....
--(signed) An Aging U-Boat Fan (in both senses!)