| Posted by beano on February 16, 2022 | |
Plenty of hilly territory around that part of Oregon. I'm sure those GP20 locos were needed with a little more power to help on those grades. Huntington a little further E on down the line used to be where they added helpers to westbound trains. Eastbound trains from H headed down a small canyon n crossed the Snake River and entered Idaho. Scenic place tis. Once,back in the day I was aboard a UP Pig train and that had 2 SD40-2 Locos and a DD40 in the lead and as soon we crossed over the Snake River and the end cleared the bridge that train started shaking and rocking and rolling along the pretty sand dunes of the Snake on the Idaho side of the river. I swear I lost some hair even though I was bandana equipped. I didn't know the Engineers name but to me he was " Fast Eddy" Those Piggybacker trains dont mess around once they get the green light. Hold on. UP GP20s what a fine upgraded loco. What do they do to upgrade the engine from 1750 HP to 2000 HP ?
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I understand that UP bought GP20 components from EMD, mainly a turbo charger and related items. The photo shows that behind the cab a wider cabinet was installed along the hood, similar to factory built GP20s. Also a new single exhaust stack, and 48 inch fans, which the GP9s may or may not have already had. Also a larger fuel tank and cooling pipes along their sides. Not sure where air tanks ended up, maybe in the tall short hood? Long hood side door vents were changed to match a GP20, but chicken wire radiator screens from the GP7/9 era were kept.
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