Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 37, 2016

The General Electric steam turbine locomotives were two steam turbine locomotives built by General Electric (GE) for Union Pacific (UP) in 1938. The two units were streamlined, 90 ft in length, capable of producing 2,500 hp, and reputedly able to attain speeds of 125 mph. Stylistically, they resembled contemporary Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC) diesel designs, especially the UP's M-10003 through M-10006 trainsets. 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 premier of Cecil B. DeMille's film Union Pacific, and even an inspection by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. While the locomotives displayed excellent acceleration and an ability to maintain schedules better than conventional steam locomotives, they also demonstrated serious reliability problems and relatively high maintenance costs; they never entered regular revenue service. In June 1939, UP returned the locomotives to GE; by December 1941, the railroad had given up on the project. 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. Ultimately, they were scrapped before the end of World War II.