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  • Ex-NYC U30C @ Pocopson, PA - Where did it go?

  • Discussion of General Electric locomotive technology. Current official information can be found here: www.getransportation.com.
Discussion of General Electric locomotive technology. Current official information can be found here: www.getransportation.com.

Moderators: MEC407, AMTK84

 #246382  by mortonstationagent
 
I was in Pocopson, PA on the RDG Wilmington & Northern branch & I noticed the former New York Central U30C which had been stored on the siding east of Rte 52 in recent years is gone. I think it is/was owned by RMDI of Pittston, PA. Anyone know what happened to it?

 #246597  by SSW9389
 
How was this mystery unit painted? New York Central merged into Penn Central in 1968 and it never owned any U30Cs or any other 6-axle Uboats.

402

 #248374  by Allen Hazen
 
Thanks for the link, U-Haul!
Paint job looks as if it hasn't had much TLC of late...
But the detail in the photo is good: it's clearly a U30B from the first year of production, so it could well be ex-NYC.

 #248909  by scottychaos
 
google brings up a few sporadic mentions:
I need help w/ 2 former PC U30B. They became McHugh Brothers
#401 & #402. McHugh Brothers sold them to Octoraro Railway in 1993. That is all the info I have on them.
from: http://pc.smellycat.com/list/2005-03/msg00010.html
no further details from followups.


Here is the U30B info from Conrail Cyclopedia:
http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/ge/u30/u30brepaint.html

This mystery unit is probably one of these 28 U-boats.
thats all I can find right now..

Scot

 #249005  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
Ask LCJ, he should be able to provide you some info, on these units, where based at, when sold or scrapped, etc........... :wink:

Here is the link, for the U-30-C's, instead of the "B" units above, if you need it:

http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/ge/u30/u30crost.html

 #249011  by LCJ
 
When were they sold? Not soon enough.

When were they scrapped? Same answer.

They were Erie's lame attempt to compete with GP40s, and there was no comparison in my book. And no, I haven't yet written my book, but someday I will.

I liken running a train with a U30B in the lead to those things where you put in a coin and turn a crank trying to pick up a toy and move it over to the chute -- very little connection between what you do and what happens as a result.

Move the throttle down a notch or two and the ammeter would go up! Pull the throttle out and the load would drop to zero as you attempt in vain to stretch the slack.

OK -- the GE lovers can have at me now.

 #249013  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
Those 4 junkers from "Auto-Train", wern't much of a bargain either. The bounciest locos I have ever been on, excepting a couple of those C-32-8's........ :P

 #249014  by LCJ
 
I remember when I first started as RFE and rode a Hammie-crewed TV62 with B36-7s with FB trucks over the Reading Line before they installed CWR. You had to hold on the arm rests with white knuckles to keep from being thrown to the floor.

 #249018  by jg greenwood
 
LCJ wrote:When were they sold? Not soon enough.

When were they scrapped? Same answer.

They were Erie's lame attempt to compete with GP40s, and there was no comparison in my book. And no, I haven't yet written my book, but someday I will.

I liken running a train with a U30B in the lead to those things where you put in a coin and turn a crank trying to pick up a toy and move it over to the chute -- very little connection between what you do and what happens as a result.

Move the throttle down a notch or two and the ammeter would go up! Pull the throttle out and the load would drop to zero as you attempt in vain to stretch the slack.

OK -- the GE lovers can have at me now.
I'll agree with one exception. There are good GE's, when they're less than six months, make that 90-days, old. After that, their "I'll load when I'm damned good and ready" attitude takes hold and everything starts falling apart. Some of the BN's newer GE's are a testimony to this fact. They're less than a year old and the buttons for the wipers, gauge-intensity dials, etc. are missing. How many times have we seen fusees and/or track spikes driven between the desk-top and the bulkhead in an attempt to eliminate/minimize the vibration? Forgot to mention those lovely front-doors on the older GE's. It was all I could do to shoe-horn my big arse into the cab!
Last edited by jg greenwood on Tue May 23, 2006 4:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

 #249023  by octr202
 
scottychaos wrote:google brings up a few sporadic mentions:
I need help w/ 2 former PC U30B. They became McHugh Brothers
#401 & #402. McHugh Brothers sold them to Octoraro Railway in 1993. That is all the info I have on them.
from: http://pc.smellycat.com/list/2005-03/msg00010.html
no further details from followups.


Here is the U30B info from Conrail Cyclopedia:
http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/ge/u30/u30brepaint.html

This mystery unit is probably one of these 28 U-boats.
thats all I can find right now..

Scot
They were bought by the Octoraro's second owners (after my family sold the business) I believe -- I'm struggling to remember exactly what all was going on with the railroad, as I was in Florida by then. I'm not sure if they survived after they ran the OCTR into bankruptcy and it re-emerged as the Delaware Valley Railroad. If I had to hazard a totally random guess, I'd say that the one in Pocopson was caught up in one of the various complex equipment disposition processes that have taken place as the railroad went thru the many ownership/designated operatorship changes from OCTR to DV to Brandywine Valley to now East Penn Railways.

That looks like it might be an SW1 behind it in the photo...might be ex-Anthracite Railway 55 which did come down to the OCTR at some point after I was in Florida, but I can't tell in that photo.

 #330943  by scottychaos
 
U-Haul wrote:The only G.E I have found so far is this one.
http://www.jim-frizzell.com/brandywine_ ... iding2.jpg
That particular U30B is former Octoraro 402, originally New York Central 2887..one of only two known surviving NYC U30B's..
anyone know where she is today?
is she still on the East Penn?

http://gold.mylargescale.com/Scottychao ... /index.htm

thanks,
Scot

 #330962  by octr202
 
scottychaos wrote:
U-Haul wrote:The only G.E I have found so far is this one.
http://www.jim-frizzell.com/brandywine_ ... iding2.jpg
That particular U30B is former Octoraro 402, originally New York Central 2887..one of only two known surviving NYC U30B's..
anyone know where she is today?
is she still on the East Penn?

http://gold.mylargescale.com/Scottychao ... /index.htm

thanks,
Scot
I might be driving through the old Chester County neighborhood later this month. If I have a chance to look at Pocopson, I'll let you know if she's still languishing in the weeds.

 #330972  by scottychaos
 
octr202 wrote:
scottychaos wrote:
U-Haul wrote:The only G.E I have found so far is this one.
http://www.jim-frizzell.com/brandywine_ ... iding2.jpg
That particular U30B is former Octoraro 402, originally New York Central 2887..one of only two known surviving NYC U30B's..
anyone know where she is today?
is she still on the East Penn?

http://gold.mylargescale.com/Scottychao ... /index.htm

thanks,
Scot
I might be driving through the old Chester County neighborhood later this month. If I have a chance to look at Pocopson, I'll let you know if she's still languishing in the weeds.
thanks! :P

Scot