GE U36B


The GE U36B is a four-axle B-B diesel-electric locomotive produced by General Electric from 1969 to 1974. It was primarily used by the Seaboard [Coast Line Railroad] and its successors, although thirteen provided the power for the original Auto Train. The U36B was the last GE high-horsepower universal series locomotive.

Design

General Electric's "high-horsepower" universal series locomotives were built around improvements to the 16-cylinder GE FDL-16 prime mover. The U36B, rated at, was the most powerful of the four-axle universal series and the last such design. It was visually indistinguishable from the GE U33B, both of which were long. The locomotives rode on Blomberg trucks from traded-in EMD general-purpose locomotives. Each locomotive weighed. The U36B shared large "bat-wing" radiators with other high-horsepower locomotives of its generation at the back.
The Seaboard locomotives had an 81:22 gear ratio, permitting a maximum speed of. The U36B and the six-axle GE U36C were designed to operate with the MATE slug. The MATE had four traction motors, allowing power from the locomotive to be distributed over a total of eight traction motors for double tractive effort. The Auto-Train locomotives did not have steam generators for passenger comfort; this was supplied by a separate steam generator car behind the locomotives.

History

The primary purchaser of the U36B was the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, which ordered 108 locomotives. The Auto-Train Corporation, whose Auto Train ran primarily over the Seaboard, ordered another 17, for a total production run of 125. Four of these would be delivered to Conrail after Auto-Train ran into financial difficulties. The Conrail U36B locomotives were fitted with AAR Type B trucks. The unit price was $285,000. The intended use of the U36B was "high-priority, fast freight services, such as intermodal trains."
GE manufactured the U36B between January 1969 and December 1974, during a period when railroads in the United States moved away from high-horsepower designs. There were multiple reasons for this change: rising fuel prices because of the 1973 oil crisis, higher locomotive maintenance costs, and poor wheel adhesion, resulting from the primitive state of wheel-slip control at the time. With its per axle, the U36B was the "ultimate in adhesion-limited locomotives." GE would not market another such type until the Dash 7 series in the late 1970s.
Seaboard Coast Line #1776 became 1813 became 1776) was painted in a red-white-and-blue color scheme to honor the United States Bicentennial and made numerous special trips. The 13 Auto-Train locomotives were painted in that company's distinctive purple-white-and-red color scheme, devised by Carol Settles. Amtrak leased car six of Auto-Train's locomotives during the unusually harsh winter of 1976–1977 to provide power for the Chicago–Florida Floridian.

Preservation

Original owners

General Electric manufactured 125 locomotives between 1969–1975:
RailroadQuantityRoad numbers
Auto-Train Corporation134000–4012
Conrail42971–2974
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad1081748–1855