Child of the 80s -- EMD GP60s Pulling a Union Pacific Freight Train in Templeton, California
by Darin Volpe
Title
Child of the 80s -- EMD GP60s Pulling a Union Pacific Freight Train in Templeton, California
Artist
Darin Volpe
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
UP 1088 was delivered in March of 1990 as SSW 9678. It was on the last order fulfilled by EMD for the "Cotton Belt" division of Southern Pacific,only six years before the railroad's demise.
A true child of the '80s, the GP60 was the first Electro-Motive Division locomotive to be equipped with advanced on-board computers. Three microprocessors controlled everything from the engine's performance to its braking system, replacing much of the complex wiring used in previous generation engines. Nearly 400 EMD GP60s were produced during their 1985 to 1994 production run.
Interestingly enough, this first of the computerized EMD locomotives would be the last of General Motors' Electro-Motive Division's four-axle "general purpose" engines. As more modern technology allowed the larger six-axle engines to operate more efficiently in the roles that were once the GP's forte, the Geeps were phased out of mainline service. Today, they are only found on class 1 railroad's local trains, or working on short line regional railroads.
This pair of GP60s once proudly pulled fast intermodal and priority freight trains all across America. Their time past, they are now relegated to hauling a few cars on the Union Pacific local that services the small number of industries still utilizing rail service on the Coast Line north of San Luis Obispo.
Uploaded
January 13th, 2022
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