GE U18B
|
A Maine Central Railroad U18B, on lease to the short-lived Niagara and Western New York Railroad, July 2002 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The GE U18B diesel-electric locomotive was introduced by GE Transportation as a branch line roadswitcher in 1973. Easy to spot due to its relatively short length — 54 ft 8 in (16.66 m) — it was the only North American locomotive powered by the 8-cylinder 7FDL engine.
The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad (SCL) bought 105 U18Bs, far more than the second-best U.S. customer, the Maine Central Railroad (MEC), which ordered 10. Most of the SCL and MEC U18Bs rode on refurbished Blomberg trucks, recycled from old EMD locomotives, making the U18B even more visually distinct from other GE locomotives.
Many railfans refer to the GE Universal Series locomotives as "U-Boats." Due to its smaller size, the U18B received the nickname "Baby Boat."
Not many U18Bs still exist, but some short-line railroads, such as the Pickens Railway, still have several U18Bs in everyday service.
GE included information about a B18-7 locomotive (which would have followed the U18B) in its 1978 "Series-7 Road Locomotives" service manual, but none of these updated units were ordered, sold, or built.
Original Owners
| Railroad | Quantity | Numbers |
|---|---|---|
| Maine Central Railroad | 10 | 400–409 |
| Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México | 45 | 9000–9044 |
| Providence and Worcester Railroad | 1 | 1801 |
| Seaboard Coast Line Railroad | 105 | 250–261, 300–392 |
| Texas Utilities | 2 | 101–102 |
References
- GE Transportation. Locomotive Service Manual for Series-7 Road Locomotives (Section 1) (PDF).
- GE Transportation. Operating Manual - Diesel-Electric Locomotive - GEJ-3856C (1973).
External links
- Sarberenyi, Robert. GE U18B Original Owners