View source for GE U25B

{{Short description|GE U25B 2,500 hp diesel electric locomotive}}
{{more footnotes|date=February 2015}}
{{Infobox locomotive
|  name=GE U25B
|  powertype=[[Diesel-electric]]
|  gauge={{track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
|  image=File:New Haven 2520 (U25B) going through Danbury, CT on Maybrook freight line, July 28, 1968 (22366087578).jpg
|  caption=[[New Haven Railroad]] GE U25Bs at [[Danbury, Connecticut|Danbury]], [[Connecticut]] on July 28, 1968.
|  aarwheels=B-B
|  primemover=[[GE Transportation Systems|GE]] [[GE 7FDL|FDL-16]]
|  transmission=[[Diesel-electric transmission|Diesel electric]]
|  poweroutput={{convert|2500|hp|kW|abbr=on|lk=on}}
|  builddate=April 1959 &ndash; February 1966
|  totalproduction=478
|  builder=[[GE Transportation Systems]]
|  buildmodel=U25B
|  disposition=most [[scrap]]ped, a few in preservation
}}
The '''GE U25B''' is [[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 consortium agreement with Alco.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Gerald L. |title=A field guide to trains of North America |date=1996 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=0-395-70112-0 |page=42}}</ref>

==History==
The U25B (nicknamed ''U-Boat'') is the first commercially successful domestic diesel electric road locomotive designed, built, and sold by General Electric after its split with the [[Alco-GE|American Locomotive Company]] (Alco), a company dating back to the steam era. GE had developed internal combustion-electric generating, control, and drive systems in the early 1920s, which provided the foundation for the use of internal combustion engines in railroading.  Early applications were in motorized railcars and switch engines.  The 1930s saw that technology adapted to high speed mainline locomotives. In 1940 GE partnered with Alco, who by that time were well-established as a manufacturer of diesel switch engines and were introducing their first diesel road locomotives.  They were successful in building locomotives for switching and short-haul applications, having introduced [[Alco RS-1|the first road-switcher]] design in 1941 (which would supplant the [[Carbody unit|carbody]] design developed by the [[Electro-Motive Corporation]] by the mid-1950s) and gained a 26% market share as of 1946.<ref name="ALCOvsEMD" >{{cite web| url=http://utahrails.net/articles/alco-v-emd.php| title=ALCo vs EMD| website=UtahRails.Net| access-date=January 25, 2013}}</ref> Alco-GE's efforts in main line road locomotives had not been successful at breaking into [[Electro-Motive Diesel|EMD]]'s dominant position in that market, although they introduced a successful [[gas turbine-electric locomotive]] to market in 1952.  In 1953 GE went independent from Alco in locomotive production, with their new subsidiary [[GE Rail]] taking over the gas turbine-electric venture while they sought a supplier of more reliable diesel engines suitable for road locomotives.  Production of [[Cooper-Bessemer]] powered Universal Series locomotives began in 1956 and some 400 export locomotives were sold before the U25B was offered in the United States. 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 [[Electro-Motive Diesel|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.  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 [[EMD GP20|GP20]] (2,000&nbsp;hp) and the [[ALCO RS-27|RS27]] ({{convert|2400|hp|kW|abbr=on|disp=or}}).

Though many were produced and sold, the only remaining U25B locomotives are in museums, as many were retired or scrapped at the end of their service life by the end of the 1980s.

== Rebuilds ==

=== M-K TE70-4S ===
{{Main|M-K TE70-4S}}
Four Southern Pacific U25Bs were rebuilt by [[Morrison-Knudsen]] with a [[Sulzer (manufacturer)|Sulzer]] [[V12 engine|V-12]] [[Prime mover (locomotive)|prime mover]]. These locomotives, designated M-K TE70-4S, operated from 1978 to 1987.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lustig|2003|p=23}}</ref> The experiment proved unsuccessful, and no additional units were rebuilt.

=== U25BE ===

Two Southern Pacific U25Bs were rebuilt by the [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company]] themselves at their own Sacramento Shops into GE U25BE locomotives. Only SP #3100 was preserved while SP 3101 was scrapped in 1987.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgIoAQAAMAAJ |title=Model Railroad Craftsman: Volume 56 - July 1987 |publisher=[[Carstens Pub]] |year=1987 |pages=74}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Harvp|Shippen|Shine|1999|p=24}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite journal |date=1988 |title=Former SP "Snowflake" |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5flVAAAAMAAJ&q=Southern+Pacific+3100+bicentennial |journal=Railfan & Railroad |publisher=Carstens Publications |volume=7 |page=30 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Preservation==
Six U25Bs are known to be preserved today. Of these, only one remains in operating condition. Southern Pacific 3100 is now on permanent exhibit at the [[Orange Empire Railway Museum]] in [[Perris, California]]. Built in 1963, this locomotive was first numbered SP 7508. Later numbered SP 6800, it became a goodwill [[Ambassador (diplomacy)|ambassador]] for the railroad in 1976 when it was painted in an elaborate red, white, and blue color scheme in celebration of the nation's [[United States Bicentennial|bicentennial]]; it was later renumbered and repainted in standard SP [[livery]] and was donated to the [[museum]]. The 3100 is fully certified to run on any of the nation's railroads and is frequently used as motive power for offsite work trains.<gallery>
Image:GE U25B front2.jpg|SP 3100, the only GE U25B still in working order, is operated at the [[Southern California Railway Museum]].
Image:GE U25B rear.jpg|Long hood end of SP 3100.
Image:GE U25B plate.jpg|The builder’s plate on SP 3100.
</gallery>

Several more examples survive, all in varying states of preservation:
*[[Louisville and Nashville]] 1616 is stored at the [[Southern Appalachia Railway Museum]] in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The unit is missing its main generator.
*[[Milwaukee Road]] 5056 is preserved at the [[Illinois Railway Museum]] and is being both cosmetically and mechanically restored for operation on the museum grounds.
*[[Milwaukee Road]] 5057 is being cosmetically restored by [[Cascade Rail Foundation]] to eventually be displayed at the [[South Cle Elum Rail Yard]] in Washington.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.milwelectric.org/5057project/| title=Milwaukee Road 5057 Project| website=Cascade Rail Foundation}}</ref>
*[[New York, New Haven & Hartford|New Haven]] 2525 has been preserved by the [[Railroad Museum of New England]]/[[Naugatuck Railroad]] of [[Thomaston, CT|Thomaston]], [[Connecticut|CT]]. It wears its original New Haven colors, however it is not currently operational.
*[[New York Central]] 2500 is on display at the [[Lake Shore Railway Historical Society museum]] in [[North East, Pennsylvania]].

==Original owners==
<br>
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
! Railroad !! Quantity !! Numbers !! Notes
|- 
|[[General Electric]] (XP-24 testbed) || 2 || 751–752 || align=left|Never sold, retained by GE 
|- align = "center"
|rowspan=3 | [[General Electric]] (demonstrator) || 4 || 753–756 || align=left| High short hood; to Frisco 804–807
|-
| 4 || 2501–2504 || align=left| to Union Pacific 633–636
|-
|4|| 51-54 || align=left| to Frisco 812, 814, 815, and 813.
|- align = "center"
|[[Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway]] || 16 || 1600–1615 || align=left| renumbered 6600–6615
|- align = "center"
|[[Chesapeake and Ohio Railway]] || 38 || 2500–2537 || align=left| renumbered 8100–8137
|- align = "center"
|[[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad]] || 6 || 100–105 || align=left| to [[Burlington Northern]] 5424–5429
|- align = "center"
|[[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad]] ("Milwaukee Road") || 12 || 380–391 || align=left| 380 retired 1966; remainder renumbered 5000–5010; renumbered 5050–5060
|- align = "center"
|[[Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad]] || 39 || 200–238 || align=left| 225–238 to [[Maine Central Railroad]] 225–238
|- align = "center"
|[[Erie Lackawanna Railroad]] || 27 || 2501–2527 || align=left| to [[Conrail]] 2570–2596
|- align = "center"
|[[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)|Great Northern Railway]] || 24 || 2500–2523 || align=left| to Burlington Northern 5400–5423
|- align = "center"
|[[Louisville and Nashville Railroad]] || 27 || 1600–1626 || align=left| 
|- align = "center"
|[[New York Central Railroad]] || 70 || 2500–2569 || align=left| to [[Penn Central]] 2500–2569; to Conrail 2500–2569
|- align = "center"
|[[New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad]] || 26 || 2500–2525 || align=left| to Penn Central 2660–2685; to Conrail 2660–2685
|- align = "center"
|[[Norfolk and Western Railway]] || 1 || 3515 || align=left| 3515 was renumbered to 8138 (wreck replacement for Wabash unit)
|- align = "center"
|[[Pennsylvania Railroad]] || 59 || 2500–2548, 2649–2658 || align=left| renumbered 2600–2658; to Penn Central 2600–2658; to Conrail 2600–2658
|- align = "center"
|[[St. Louis – San Francisco Railway]] ("Frisco") || 24 || 800–803, 808–811, 816-831 || align=left| 804–807, 812-815 ex GE. Numbers 800–807 were high short hood units in black and yellow scheme; The next set (808–815) were low short hood units in black and yellow. The last 16, 816–831, were low hoods and delivered in the orange and white scheme. To Burlington Northern 5210–5233.
|- align = "center"
|[[Southern Pacific Company]] || 68 || 7500–7567 || align=left| renumbered 6700–6767
|- align = "center"
|[[Union Pacific Railroad]] || 12 || 625–632, 637–640 || align=left| 633–636 ex GE demonstrators 2501–2504. The only railroad, other than the Frisco, to have high short hood U25Bs.
|- align = "center"
|[[Wabash Railroad]] || 15 || 500–514 || align=left| to Norfolk and Western 3516–3529; renumbered 8139–8152
|-
! Total !! 478 !!  !!
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Shippen |first1=Bill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=37S3AAAAIAAJ&q=GE+U25BE |title=Southern Pacific in Transition |last2=Shine |first2=Joseph W. |publisher=[[Four Ways Publications]] |year=1999 |isbn=9781885614261 |pages=}}
* {{Marre-diesel-50}}
* {{cite journal| last=Komanesky| first=John| url=http://www.thedieselshop.us/GE%20U25B.HTML| via=The Diesel Shop| title=General Electric U25B Roster| access-date=January 27, 2005| journal=Extra 2200 South}}
* {{cite journal| title=Whatever happened to SP's 'Popsicles'?| last=Lustig| first=David| journal=[[Trains (magazine)|Trains]]| date=May 2003| volume=63| issue=5| page=23| issn=0041-0934}}
* {{Pinkepank diesel spotters guide 2}}
* {{cite magazine| title=What's up with the U25B| pages=40–41| magazine=Trains Magazine| date=August 1960}}

==External links==
* [http://www.oerm.org/collection/southern-pacific Orange Empire Railway Museum; Southern Pacific preservation roster]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041104221924/http://crcyc.railfan.net/locos/ge/u25/u25b.html U25B Conrail photo gallery]
* [http://www.milwelectric.org Cascade Rail Foundation]
* [http://lakeshorerailway.com Lake Shore Railway Historical Society museum]
{{GE diesels}}

[[Category:General Electric locomotives|U25B]]
[[Category:B-B locomotives]]
[[Category:Diesel–electric locomotives of the United States]]
[[Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 1959]]
[[Category:Freight locomotives]]
[[Category:Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States]]
[[Category:Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway locomotives]]
[[Category:Chesapeake and Ohio locomotives]]
[[Category:Chicago, Burlington and Quincy locomotives]]
[[Category:Great Northern Railway (United States) locomotives]]
[[Category:Maine Central Railroad locomotives]]
[[Category:Milwaukee Road locomotives]]
[[Category:New York Central Railroad locomotives]]
[[Category:New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad locomotives]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives]]
[[Category:Southern Pacific Railroad locomotives]]
[[Category:St. Louis–San Francisco Railway locomotives]]
[[Category:Union Pacific Railroad locomotives]]