Union Pacific Locomotive Fleet Changes
June, July and August 1997
UNION PACIFIC (UP) - During June, July and August 1997, GE delivered a total of 89 new C44ACs (which GE calls AC4400CWs), completing this order of 150 units, numbered from 6550-6699.
General Motors Locomotive Group (EMD) delivered 28 of its SD90/43ACs, with UP calling these units SD9043ACs, completing the delivery of 177 new units, numbered from 8000 to 8176.
The ten GECX C44ACs, numbered as GECX 4000-4009 and painted in full UP paint, delivered to UP in April 1997 as warranty protection units, will be sold to UP as UP 7000-7009 when their period of warranty protection expires.
The leased GP38-2 fleet continues to grow, with 32 more units arriving on the railroad. In June: five ex-HATX (nee-MP) units (UP 1832, 1833, 1839, 1840, 1841) and five ex-EMD lease fleet units (UP 1914, 1922, 1958, 1961, 1967. In July: three ex-HATX units (UP 1836, 1842, 1845) and eight ex-EMD lease fleet units (UP 1917, 1941, 1944, 1946, 1950, 1956, 1959, 1962). In August: 11 ex-EMD lease fleet units (UP 1910, 1912, 1916, 1926, 1928, 1936, 1942, 1948, 1954, 1964, 1966).
The leased GP38-3 fleet grew by 12 units: UP 2413, 2515, 2516, and 2517 in June; UP 2414 in July; and UP 2425, 2518, 2519, 2520, 2521, 2522 and 2525 in August. Remember that the 2400-series units are rebuilt from GP38-2s and the 2500-series are rebuilt from GP40s.
UP's fleet of MP15s added four more units. UP 1429 and 1430 (both MP15ACs) came in June. These are former Kennecott Minerals units that originally worked for the copper giant at its Bingham Utah open pit copper mine, mill, and smelter. UP 1429 is the former KMC 122 (built with a 13-inch engineer's cab side extension, now removed, for visibility at rotary car dumpers) and 1430 is the former KMC 701, which was assigned to regular switching service. UP 1488 (also an MP15AC) was delivered in July, returning to UP rails after previous service as UP 1329, from 1988 to 1994. UP 1290, an MP15DC, was delivered in August, joining its partner UP 1289, which was delivered in January. UP 1289 and 1290 are former SP 2691 and 2692, which SP had retired and sold in 1994, prior to the UP merger. Both units eventually ended up as owned by Helm Financial, which has leased them back to UP, numbered just ahead of the other nine (not yet renumbered) ex-SP MP15DCs, with SP numbers 2690, 2693-2701, and assigned UP numbers 1291-1299.
Only three Life Extension SD40-2Rs were completed during this three month period. UP 3353, 3358, and 3514 were all completed in August, bringing the number of SD40-2Rs up to 237 units completed out of a total 682-unit fleet of SD40-2s.
The program to convert ex-MP SD40-2s to SD38-2s for hump service got its start in July. UP 2817 was completed from UP 4276 on 8Jul97; UP 2818 was completed from UP 4266 on 22Jul97; UP 2819 was completed from UP 4227 on 21Jul97; UP 2816 was completed from UP 4218 on 18Aug97; and UP 2823 was completed from UP 4120 on 28Aug97. UP 4218, 4227, and 4266 had been in service as trailing units, with a 'B' prefix to their road numbers, since 1992.
An additional SD38-2 will soon arrive on the property. Ex-McCloud (River) SD38-2 39 was sold to UP by its owner, Mid-America Equipment Co., in trade for five UP SW10s: UP 1261, 1262, 1263, 1268, and 1270, these five units being the five highest numbered operating units in the SW10 fleet. This sale will be finalized during September, with McCloud 39 becoming UP 2824, numbered between the ex-MP SD40-2s and the ex-SP SD38-2s.
Two previously retired ex-SP units were re-instated during August. SP SD45T-2 6817 and SP SD40-2R 7464, both retired in May, were returned to the active roster due to motive power shortages.
In retirements, UP returned the 18 leased Conrail C30-7s in June. In July, UP retired 10 ex-C&NW GP7s (C&NW 4104, 4114, 4124, 4128, 4130, 4131, 4157, 4163, 4174, and 4180), leaving just 23 of the 90 units received in the C&NW merger. July retirements also included the 3000 HP SD45R, C&NW 6564, along with two ex-C&NW GP40s (C&NW 5505, 5511), and three ex-C&NW SD18s (C&NW 6627, 6628, 6637, leaving two of a 23-unit group remaining).
Also in July, UP retired ex-D&RGW SW1200 134, ex-D&RGW GP40 3147, and ex-D&RGW SD45 5326. Retirements of ex-SP units also continued during July 1997, including: four SD7s (SP 1505, 1517, 1520, 1540); two SD9s (SP 4396, 4402); two GP35s (SP 6340, 6346); two SD45T-2Rs (SP 6848, 6864); two SD40Es (SP 7342, 7355); four SD45Rs (SP 7445, 7472, 7474, 7519); one B36-7 (SP 7762); and one SD45T-2 (SP 9226), a total of 18 ex-SP units removed from the active UP roster.
In other retirements, UP retired six wrecked units from its roster on 14Jul97, including GP40 673, GP38s 1979 and 1995, SD60 5981, SD60M 6143, and C40-8 9186. The last three units were involved in the fatal 22Jun97 head-on at Devine, Texas, and were destroyed in the collision. A fourth unit involved in the Devine wreck, UP 4211, was retired on 21Aug97. The fifth unit at Devine, Texas, ex-C&NW SD50 5084, will be repaired and returned to service. One more retirement, in August, removed wrecked SD40-2 3616 from the roster on 19Aug97, after its wreck in the fatal 2Jul97 side-swipe collision at Kenefick, Kansas. SP SD45R 7419 was also destroyed in the Kansas wreck, and awaits a determination of its status.
To any observer, the merging of SP, D&RGW, SSW, and C&NW units into UP's motive power fleet would seem like a very big task. In fact, it has proven to be an almost mind-numbing exercise. The quantity of conflicts within the separate fleets have been so numerous, that several attempts have been made to come up with a complete, logically-numbered fleet of operating locomotives. At the time of the UP/C&NW merger in April 1995, C&NW came in with 775 units, 662 of which remain on UP's active roster. At the time of the UP/SP merger in September 1996, SP came in with 2184 SP units and 181 ex-D&RGW units, with 1889 ex-SP units and 151 ex-D&RGW units remaining on the active UP roster. On 1Apr97, 141 ex-D&RGW units were passed to full UP ownership, leaving out those ex-D&RGW units that had previously been repainted to SP. In a similar formal change in ownership, on 1Aug97, 295 ex-SSW units were passed to UP, again, not taking into account those SSW units that had previously been changed to SP ownership. The remaining SP fleet will be officially changed to UP ownership as soon as the legal requirements can be worked out.
The full UP motive power summary published in the previous issue of Diesel Era showed conflicts of duplicate numbers for some of the ex-SP and ex-WP locomotives. These conflicts have been worked out, placing the nine ex-WP GP40-2s in the 5361-5369 number series, rather than the 5315-5323 series as shown in the summary. An additional conflict showed the UP 4890-4897 numbers series as being shared by both the ex-SP SD45T-2Rs and SD45T-2s. To take care of this duplication in number series, the entire fleets of unrebuilt SD45T-2s and the rebuilt SD45T-2Rs were changed around, with the result that instead of occupying the number series 4800-4999, the fleet of 206 SD45T-2s and SD45T-2Rs now share the 4794-4999 series, with the numbers being: UP 4794-4831 (38 SD45T-2Rs); 4832-4928 (97 SD45T-2s); 4929-4986 (58 SD45T-2Rs); 4987-4998 (12 SD45T-2s); with UP 4999 being ex-SP SD45T-2R 6892. Due to differing lease, ownership, and maintenance considerations, the sequence of UP numbers will not reflect the sequence of former SP and SSW numbers...in other words, it's all scrambled up in a bewildering combination of road numbers.
While generally agreed that the remaining SW10s will soon be retired, 27 of the remaining 55 units are numbered as UP 1200-1233, and conflict with the planned UP numbers for the last 34 of the 174-unit fleet of ex-SP/SSW SW1500s. To take care of this conflict, UP SW10 1233 became UP 1237 (2nd) in March 1997, filling a slot vacated by a retired SW10. In August, UP 1206 and 1229 became UP 1276 and 1284 respectively. Other renumberings will soon take care of this duplication, if the entire SW10 fleet is not retired first. (Don Strack)
Renumbered units in June, July, and August include (in order of new UP numbers):
| New Number |
Old Number |
Model | Date | Notes |
| UP 262 | SP 7776 | B30-7 | 7 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 476 | UP 2480 | C30-7 | 10 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 510 | UP 2516 | C30-7 | 17 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 511 | UP 2517 | C30-7 | 2 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 512 | UP 2518 | C30-7 | 9 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 513 | UP 2519 | C30-7 | 31 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 514 | UP 2520 | C30-7 | 10 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 515 | UP 2521 | C30-7 | 10 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 516 | UP 2522 | C30-7 | 7 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 519 | UP 2525 | C30-7 | 11 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 523 | UP 2529 | C30-7 | 21 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 617 | UP 9017 | C36-7 | 20 Jun 1997 | (ex-MP 9017) |
| UP 618 | UP 2618 | C36-7 | 4 Jun 1997 | (ex-UP/MP 9018) |
| UP 624 | UP 9024 | C36-7 | 9 Jul 1997 | (ex-MP 9024) |
| UP 627 | UP 9027 | C36-7 | 2 Jun 1997 | (ex-MP 9027) |
| UP 691 | UP 637 | GP40 | 23 Jul 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5506) |
| UP 1068 | SP 2461 | SW1500 | 17 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 1071 | SP 2465 | SW1500 | 22 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 1087 | SSW 2485 | SW1500 | 25 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 1093 | SP 2497 | SW1500 | 26 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 1099 | SP 2506 | SW1500 | 13 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 1108 | SSW 2521 | SW1500 | 6 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 1114 | SP 2528 | SW1500 | 9 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 1143 | SP 2564 | SW1500 | 8 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 1158 | SSW 2585 | SW1500 | 12 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 1189 | SP 2617 | SW1500 | 2 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 1206 | SP 2689 | SW1500 | 7 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 1227 | SP 2682 | SW1500 | 15 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 1229 | SP 2685 | SW1500 | 20 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 1432 | SP 2703 | MP15AC | 8 Jul 1997 | (first ex-SP MP15AC) |
| UP 2956 | C&NW 6807 | SD40-2 | 8 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 2978 | C&NW 6830 | SD40-2 | 11 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 3089 | C&NW 6926 | SD40-2 | 16 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 4053 | D&RGW 5366 | SD40T-2 | 12 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 4427 | SP 8369 | SD40T-2 | 23 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 4497 | SP 8554 | SD40T-2 | 28 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 4551 | SP 8286 | SD40T-2 | 17 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 4589 | SP 8264 | SD40T-2 | 18 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 4634 | SP 8608 | SD40M-2 | 28 Aug 1997 | (first ex-SP SD40M-2) |
| UP 5061 | C&NW 7001 | SD50 | 1 May 1997 | (reported late) |
| UP 5070 | C&NW 7010 | SD50 | 22 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 5088 | C&NW 7028 | SD50 | 8 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 5217 | SP 7247 | GP40-2 | 21 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5254 | D&RGW 3099 | GP40-2 | 3 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5256 | D&RGW 3102 | GP40-2 | 3 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5260 | D&RGW 3106 | GP40-2 | 7 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 5324 | SP 7673 | GP40-2 | 31 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 5338 | SP 7955 | GP40-2 | 1 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5512 | UP 902 | GP50 | 30 Jun 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5053) |
| UP 5514 | UP 904 | GP50 | 19 Jun 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5055) |
| UP 5515 | UP 905 | GP50 | 24 Jun 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5058) |
| UP 5516 | C&NW 5059 | GP50 | 25 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5519 | UP 909 | GP50 | 24 Jun 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5062) |
| UP 5524 | C&NW 5068 | GP50 | 25 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5527 | UP 917 | GP50 | 1 Jul 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5073) |
| UP 5529 | C&NW 5075 | GP50 | 18 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 5531 | UP 921 | GP50 | 1 Jul 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5079) |
| UP 5532 | UP 923 | GP50 | 9 Jul 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5080) |
| UP 5534 | C&NW 5085 | GP50 | 25 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 5538 | C&NW 5093 | GP50 | 17 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 5539 | UP 930 | GP50 | 26 Jul 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5094) |
| UP 5540 | UP 931 | GP50 | 21 Aug 1997 | (ex-C&NW 5095) |
| UP 5547 | C&NW 5089 | GP50 | 19 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 5552 | C&NW 5077 | GP50 | 15 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 5556 | C&NW 5097 | GP50 | 25 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5634 | SP 8025 | B39-8 | 2 Jun 1997 | (first ex-SP B39-8) |
| UP 5646 | SP 8037 | B39-8 | 7 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 5836 | SP 9737 | GP60 | 9 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5838 | SP 9736 | GP60 | 6 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5947 | C&NW 8003 | SD60 | 20 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5951 | C&NW 8009 | SD60 | 24 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5963 | C&NW 8037 | SD60 | 24 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 5966 | C&NW 8049 | SD60 | 6 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 5977 | C&NW 8013 | SD60 | 11 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 5980 | C&NW 8020 | SD60 | 8 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 5987 | C&NW 8033 | SD60 | 14 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5994 | C&NW 8042 | SD60 | 24 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 5997 | C&NW 8047 | SD60 | 27 Aug 1997 | |
| UP 5998 | C&NW 8048 | SD60 | 24 Jul 1997 | |
| UP 6534 | SP 256 | C44AC | 18 Jun 1997 | (first ex-SP C44AC) |
| UP 9085 | C&NW 8573 | C41-8 | 6 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 9581 | SP 8117 | C44-9 | 16 Jun 1997 | |
| UP 9775 | C&NW 8671 | C44-9W | 11 Aug 1997 |
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