Cowcatcher Up Close

BY STEVE WILLIS, Cowcatcher Round Up

The early 1960s were as much a transition era for railroads as the 1950s had been. Diesel technology was being improved and a horsepower race was beginning. In the west, speed was life.

Competition meant faster trains, and stringing together F units, which traditionally had been used to pull freight, was not the answer.

Western roads began considering successors to the diesel electric. The Union Pacific experimented with gas turbine locomotives. The Southern Pacific and Rio Grande dabbled in German Krauss Maffei diesel hydraulics.

In LaGrange, IL, Electro Motive began producing the GP30, a turbocharged 2,250-horsepower locomotive using proven technology and enhanced by a trade-in policy that allowed obsolescent FTs to be returned. First dubbed the GP22, the handle “GP30” was apparently chosen due to the 30 improvements over its predecessors.

The GP30 was an immediate success. While the first Phase I units went to the Reading, the next 78 headed west. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy ordered 30, Santa Fe 35 and the Rio Grande 13.

By the end of the model run, Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Great Northern all owned GP30s. Yet while the GP30 was the shape of the future, it was unique. The Spartan cab, the EMD standard for two decades to come, debuted on the GP30’s successor — the GP35. The GP30’s cab design featuring a unique “hump” made it one of a kind.

Rio Grande’s locomotives arrived in two groups, Nos. 3001-3007 in April 1962 and Nos. 3008-3013 in May. As proof of the unit’s success, a second order was placed in 1963.

The two groups shared what became Rio Grande standard options: dynamic brakes and nose-mounted signal lights. The two groups were distinguished by differences in cab size and the number of handrail stanchions on the car body. The earlier units boasted nine handrail stanchions; the later models, due to the cab change, had only eight.

These units were the first to be painted in what had been called the switcher scheme: overall black car body with angled orange stripes on the ends, orange pilots and sill stripe, and a small orange “Rio Grande” on the long hood. With some modifications, this would be the Denver & Rio Grande Western’s corporate image for the remainder of its existence.

The GP30s participated in one of the few early motive power pools with the CB&Q in the early ’60s. Fast-freight symbol ACD operated from Chicago to Salt Lake City with pooled Rio Grande and Burlington power. This pool was cut short due to mileage equalization and overheating issues the Burlington units experienced in the many tunnels on the Rio Grande.

Rio Grande units were outfitted with modifications that better suited them to these conditions, though the problem would not be solved for nearly 20 years until the SD40T-2s arrived.

Railroaders are a superstitious lot. Stories abound about odd practices such as closing the knuckles on the rear of the caboose to ensure the train’s good luck. One must wonder how these superstitious types felt about a group of engines being ordered that was 13 in number.

Oddly, the GP30 class sustained more wreck damage than any class of Rio Grande power.

Much of the damage was done to the first group. Units 3002, 3003, 3005, 3009, 3010 and 3012 were all damaged to some degree in their careers. On a mountain road such as the Grande, most damage was catastrophic. The Rio Grande never ordered a group of 13 locomotives again.

The GP30s were demoted to local service with the retirement of the GP7/9 fleet in the 1980s. They served through the SP merger in this capacity up to and through the UP merger but were retired shortly thereafter.

Atlas Model Railroad Co. (Hillside, NJ) recently released its N-scale GP30 Phase I in the D&RGW scheme. Get the full story by subscribing today or picking up a limited complimentary copy at one of several locations in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.