HO Athearn Genesis Veranda Turbine Union Pacific

The Union Pacific GTELs were a series of gas turbine-electric locomotives built by Alco-GE and General Electric between 1952-1961 and operated by Union Pacific from 1952 to 1970.
Union Pacific operated the largest fleet of gas turbine-electric locomotives (GTELs) of any railroad in the world. The prototype, UP 50, was the first in a series built by General Electric for Union Pacific's long-haul cargo services and marketed by the Alco-GE partnership until 1953. The prototype was introduced in 1948 and was followed by three series of production locomotives. At one point, Union Pacific said the GTELs hauled more than 10% of the railroad's freight.[citation needed]
Fuel economy was poor, for the turbine consumed roughly twice as much fuel as an equally powerful diesel engine. This was initially not a problem, because Union Pacific's turbines burned Bunker C heavy fuel oil that was less expensive than diesel. But this highly viscous fuel is difficult to handle, with a room-temperature consistency similar to tar or molasses. To solve this problem, a heater was built into the fuel tanks (and later into fuel tenders) to heat the fuel to 200 °F (93 °C) before feeding it into the turbine. Eventually UP switched from Bunker C to modified No. 6 heavy fuel oil, which contained fewer pollutants and solvents.[citation needed] Soot buildup and blade erosion caused by corrosive ash plagued all of the turbines. Changes to the air intake systems on the production turbine locomotives improved the quality of the air that reached the turbines, which in turn reduced the wear to the turbine blades and increased the turbine's running life. The GTELs were operated into late 1969 and the final two (numbers 18 and 26) were stored at the Cheyenne roundhouse in operating condition until being retired in February 1970.[1] Both were later sent to museums.
Units 61 to 75 were delivered beginning in 1954. The outside walkways along the flanks earned it the nickname "Veranda" and made it a hybrid of carbody and hood locomotives. The turbine and electrical equipment were about the same, though the side louver air intakes were replaced by the large roof-mounted intake first tested on UP 53.[3]

UP 61 was used in multiple-unit control tests with diesels starting in 1958. These tests were successful and eventually all but six of the 4,500 hp (3,400 kW) GTELs were equipped to run with diesels. As tonnage requirements increased, trailing diesel locomotives in multiple unit operation became more commonplace.
The Verandas were retired between August 1963 and June 1964.