Available Items

January 7, 2009 - Now arriving, our new Premier General Electric U30C diesels are the most detailed, most accurate models of this landmark モU-boatヤ ever produced in O gauge. As with many of our latest diesels, the tooling for the U30C is engineered to produce a multitude of different, railroad-specific versions of this engine.

Three main versions

 

The key spotting feature of the different versions is the shape of the radiator compartment at the rear of the engine. One version, found on the Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, and Norfolk Southern, has rectangular side panels that are slightly wider than the rest of the long hood. On the Reading version, however, the wider rectangular panels have a narrow extension at the top of the hood, and the radiator side panels have something of a dogleg shape. A third version, which will be featured on future U30Cs for additional railroads, has a fairing at the top of the rectangular panel where it blends into the long hood. The end of the long hood is also slightly different between the three versions.

Our models feature additional railroad-specific details as well, like the high-mounted bell at the end of the long hood and the モfirecrackerヤ radio antenna on the Norfolk Southern version. Horn locations also vary between different railroads. Our Norfolk Southern models represent the three U30Cs that the NS inherited from the Norfolk & Western, as indicated by the モNWヤ under the engine number on the cab sides; the models are detailed and numbered for all three engines, which were retired in December 1991. CLICK HERE for additional shots of the Norfolk Southern locos in action on Rich Battistaメs Black Diamond Railway. (Rich is the producer of the Black Diamond Railway DVD, available from MTH dealers or on Richメs Web site, www.toytrainsontracks.com).

Premier-level details - Additional details found on all U30C models include:

  • Etched safety tread on walkways
  • Opening cab doors
  • Folding drop steps on end platforms
  • Optional snow plow
  • Underframe air tanks with pipes
  • Superbly detailed trucks with speed recorder cable, shock absorbers, and brake cylinders
  • Illuminated headlights, marker lights, cab, and number boards
  • Separately added grab irons, windshield wipers, end platform safety chains, MU cables, and coupler lift bars
  • Fuel tank filler and sight gauge
  • Legible builderメs plate and warning labels

    The U30Cs also feature variable exhaust smoke, General Electric diesel motor sounds, and our new speaker system with improved bass response ラ to more accurately reproduce the ground-shaking rumble of the prototype. See these smooth-running diesels at your local dealer or online at www.mthtrains.com.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Prototype History

    In 1953, Alco and General Electric went their separate ways, ending the partnership that had produced some of the handsomest first-generation diesel units, the FA and PA. Seven years later, GE was back in the market with the U25B, its first self-produced road locomotive and the product of an intensive research and development effort. By 1963, GE sales surpassed those of its former partner, and the company became a serious threat to EMDメs market dominance. The nationメs diesel builders were locked in a horsepower race as railroads bought second-generation power to replace the first-generation diesels that had killed the steam engine. In 1966, General Electric introduced the six-axle, 3000 hp U30C, aimed directly at EMDメs equally powerful SD40.

    While the U30C did not outsell the SD40, it became General Electricメs best-selling モU-boat.ヤ It set the stage for GE to pull ahead of EMD in diesel sales by 1983, and stay ahead to this day. Over the course of a 10-year production run, nearly 600 U30Cs were sold to 17 class one railroads, while roads such as Conrail and Burlington Northern also acquired them in mergers. Union Pacific and Burlington Northern owned the largest fleets, with the BN using its U30Cs to haul coal from the massive Powder River Basin deposits in Montana and Wyoming. Many U30Cs served nearly three decades before retirement in the early 1990s.

    AVAILABLE IN

    Item No. 20-2778-1 Burlington Northern GE U30C Diesel Engine w/Proto-Soundᆴ 2.0 (Hi-Rail Wheels)

    Item No. 20-2778-2 Burlington Northern GE U30C Diesel Engine w/Proto-Soundᆴ 2.0 (Scale Wheels)

    Item No. 20-2778-3 Burlington Northern GE U30C Diesel Engine (Non-Powered)

    Item No. 20-2779-1 Norfolk Southern GE U30C Diesel Engine w/Proto-Soundᆴ 2.0 (Hi-Rail Wheels)

    Item No. 20-2779-2 Norfolk Southern GE U30C Diesel Engine w/Proto-Soundᆴ 2.0 (Scale Wheels)

    Item No. 20-2779-3 Norfolk Southern GE U30C Diesel Engine (Non-Powered)

    Item No. 20-2780-1 Reading GE U30C Diesel Engine w/Proto-Soundᆴ 2.0 (Hi-Rail Wheels)

    Item No. 20-2780-2 Reading GE U30C Diesel Engine w/Proto-Soundᆴ 2.0 (Scale Wheels)

    Item No. 20-2780-3 Reading GE U30C Diesel Engine (Non-Powered)

    Item No. 20-2781-1 Union Pacific GE U30C Diesel Engine w/Proto-Soundᆴ 2.0 (Hi-Rail Wheels)

    Item No. 20-2781-2 Union Pacific GE U30C Diesel Engine w/Proto-Soundᆴ 2.0 (Scale Wheels)

    Item No. 20-2781-3 Union Pacific GE U30C Diesel Engine (Non-Powered)

     

WHERE TO BUY
The M.T.H. Premier Line O Scale U30C can be ordered through any M.T.H. Authorized Retailer.