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Beginning in the 1950s, the Union Pacific Railroad sought higher and higher horsepower ratings from its locomotives to help move increasingly heavier and longer trains. Gas-Turbine Electric Locomotives (GTEL) technology promised much higher horsepower ratings over the diesel-electric locomotive designs of the time. General Electric (GE) and American Locomotive Co. (ALCO) built the first GTEL design, a double-ended, 4,500 horsepower, B+B – B+B unit, delivered as UP #50 in 1949.
This groundbreaking design would kick off the “Turbine Era” on the UP, which saw GE building successively larger and more powerful GTELs that would power UP’s hottest trains over the next two decades. The basic principal of the GTEL saw a GE-designed and built gas turbine… essentially a type of jet engine… driving a generator that produced electricity , which was fed to the traction motors on the locomotive’s axels. This design offered several advantages over more conventional diesel-electric locomotive designs of the era, particularly in horsepower. While competing cab and hood designs of the era boasted 1,500 – 1,750 hp, the first GTELs boasted 4,500 hp. Another advantage of the GTEL was it being designed to burn Bunker C heavy fuel oil, which, at the time, was much less expensive compared to conventional diesel fuel oil. GE would build successive batches of GTELs for UP, with each new design featuring improvements and design changes learned from experience from their predecessors.
Despite their outstanding performance, the “Big Blows” were to have relatively short careers. One of the contributing factors to this was rising fuel costs; the once-cheap Bunker C fuel oil the turbines were designed to burn, which refiners practically couldn’t give away early on, saw its price per gallon rise dramatically in the 1960s, eventually negating the fuel cost advantage the turbines enjoyed over their diesel-electric contemporaries. Rising maintenance costs compared to diesel-electrics also became an issue. The turbine engines were complex pieces of machinery compared to a typical diesel prime mover, in particular the delicate turbine fan blades. These factors, along with advances in diesel-electric locomotive horsepower, and limitations on where the GTELs could operate, saw the first of the “Big Blows”, UP 1-4, retired in August of 1968, after scarcely 10 years of service. Their numbers continued to dwindle over the last few years of the decade, with UP #7 holding the distinction of being the last “Big Blow” to operate, pulling its last train on December 26th, 1969. All were officially retired by February 1970, closing out the loud and exciting Turbine Era on the Union Pacific.
As the Evolution of the GTEL Turbines progressed multiple versions were created. Among these were Single Unit and A-B sets with the Hostler Motor in the A unit and the Turbine in the B Unit. The file contains both Hoslter Motor and Turbine in one decoder. If modelling a Single unit just plug in and go! If using this in an A-B set 2 decoders will be needed. Simply turn the volume of the Turbine down in the A Unit decoder, and turn the volume of the Hostler Motor to 0 in the B Unit. DO NOT DISABLE them from function mapping as the Hostler motor sounds "talk" to the Turbine sounds inside the sound schedules within the decoder.
This file does contain "Full Throttle" capabilities. While the Turbine does not go up and down once turned on the Full Throttle abilities allow the Turbine to be Consisted with Diesels as this became a common practice in the late 1950's
2nd Generation Horn Template Pack 2
Horns (SoundCV9):
CV163=0 Nathan P5
CV163=1 Nathan K5LA
CV163=2 Nathan M3H
CV163=3 Leslie RS-2M
CV163=4 Nathan K3HA
CV163=5 Nathan K3L
CV163=6 Nathan K3H
CV163=7 Nathan K5H
CV163=8 Nathan P5A
CV163=9 Nathan P5 (Old Cast)
CV163=10 Nathan M3RT1
CV163=11 Leslie S3L
CV163=12 Leslie S5T
CV163=13 Nathan K5LR24
CV163=14 Leslie S5TRF(Default)
GE Modern Bell Template Pack 1
Bells (SoundCV10):
CV164=0 GE M 6731022A Steel Bell 026
CV164=1 GE M 6731022A Steel Bell 028
CV164=2 GE M 6731022A Steel Bell 030
CV164=3 Graham-White E-Bell 001
CV164=4 Graham-White E-Bell 002
CV164=5 Graham-White E-Bell 008
1st Generation Brake Squeal Template Pack 1
Brake Squeal (SoundCV11)
CV165=0 Composition Shoe
CV166=1 Cast Iron Shoe
FULL THROTTLE features:
Drive Hold: Sound Slot 2 Mapped to F9
Independent Brake: Sound Slot 11 Mapped to F10
Run 8: Sound Slot 20 (not Mapped)
Coast: Sound Slot 21 (not Mapped)
Please Note:
ESU is working hard to utilize all of the abilities of the LokSound 5 technology by mastering brand new files from original audio. As this process takes time we understand that customers may wish to have files that are not yet mastered. For this reason, this file is a converted LokSound 4 file so it can be used on LokSound 5 state of the art decoders. Once the new version of this file has been remastered to the full LokSound capabilities you can use the ESU LokProgrammer to upgrade your decoder for free! Hide description more…
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