Fully loaded, each of the two locomotives weighed 548,000 pounds (249,000 kg). The two units built for UP were streamlined and capable of producing 2,500 horsepower (1,900 kW), and had been designed to operate together " elephant style", nose to tail. The February 1939 issue of General Electric Review claimed that each of the steam turbine locomotives could attain speeds of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h) and that they had two times a conventional steam locomotive's thermal efficiency. In total, each unit measured 90 feet 10 inches (27.69 m) in length, 10 feet (3.0 m) in width (at the cab), and 15 feet 3⁄ 4 inch (4.591 m) in height. The noses were significantly longer than those on the Pullman units, at 9 feet (2.7 m), which afforded safety for operating crews. They also had elevated cabs, similar to those of UP's Pullman-designed M-10003 through M-10006, which afforded greater visibility.
The GE locomotives had lightweight bodies consisting of steel frames covered with riveted sheet metal, most of which was made of aluminum. GE's new steam turbine locomotives featured streamlined bodies with an appearance somewhat similar to contemporary EMC diesel streamliner designs. Design Ī GE steam turbine locomotive on a test run in 1938 In total, the two prototype locomotives had taken almost two years to complete. GE had hoped to deliver a prototype steam turbine locomotive to UP in 1937, but none were completed until December 1938, and were delivered for testing in spring 1939. Early GE specifications detailed a streamlined shape, 2+C-C+2 wheel arrangement, and production of 2,500 horsepower (1,900 kW) and 81,000 pounds-force (360,000 N) of starting tractive effort (the force generated by a locomotive's prime mover in order to generate motion through tractive force). To produce an altogether new type of locomotive, GE hoped to adapt mature steam turbine technology from maritime and stationary applications for railroad use. They were scrapped before the end of World War II.ĭevelopment of the General Electric (GE) steam turbine locomotives began in late 1936, when GE and the Union Pacific (UP) began collaborating on an oil-powered steam turbine-electric design that they termed a "steam-electric locomotive". In 1941, the GE steam turbine locomotives were tested by the New York Central, and they were operated by the Great Northern in 1943 during the World War II "power crunch" (a lack of sufficient locomotives to sustain regular operations) before being retired from service later that year. By December 1941, the railroad had abandoned the project. In June 1939, UP returned the locomotives to GE. They never entered regular revenue service. While the locomotives displayed excellent acceleration and could maintain schedules better than conventional steam locomotives, they were also unreliable and expensive to maintain. DeMille's film Union Pacific, and an inspection by President Franklin D. The two locomotives were delivered to UP in April 1939, and they completed test runs and participated in a variety of publicity events for the railroad, including the grand opening of the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, the world premiere of Cecil B.
Stylistically, they resembled UP's Pullman-designed M-10003 through M-10006 power units and contemporary Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC) diesel designs. The two units were streamlined, 90 feet 10 inches (27.69 m) in length, capable of producing 2,500 horsepower (1,900 kW), and reputedly able to attain speeds of 125 miles per hour (201 km/h). The General Electric steam turbine locomotives were two steam turbine locomotives built by General Electric (GE) for Union Pacific (UP) in 1938. Union Pacific's General Electric steam turbine locomotives, circa April 1939ġ,500 pounds per square inch (10,000 kPa)–1,600 pounds per square inch (11,000 kPa)
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