Some clarifiaction on paint schemes etc., that I started with the
mythological(?) SD45 in Chinese Red: the myth never said it ever left
La Grange, maybe not even the paint shop, before it got repainted -
that's what makes urban myths so great, you can believe what you want!
The U23C's 460-468 that were purchased just before the BN merger all
came in the "green hockey stick" scheme. Unfortunately, I can't
substantiate a rumor like the SD45 one for the U23C's. What confuses
some is the four C&S U30C's 890-893 that did indeed come in Chinese
Red and stayed that way until the early 70's. The U30C and U23C are
virtually indestinguishable from each other, having the same full-
height radiator carbody (GE seemed to love to switch engines without
making carbody changes). However, because of the U23C's smaller
engine, it actually has less full-height engine access doors on the
hood vs. the U30C - very hard to note on a moving train, and seldom
noted by any but the pickiest diesel spotter. Therefore, many people
have confused the C&S U30C's with the Q U23C's and thought they were
they same units - just some in red, some in green. Clearly they were
not.
Q indeed had four U33C's on order from GE, following the lead of GN
and NP who all had additional U33C's on order. These would have been
very sharp in red since they had the radiator "wings" which were used
on the GE U33/U36 series. They came in standard BN paint, however, as
noted in a previous post. The Q U33C order was also reported on in
the 1970 or 1974 BN Annual (can't recall which one) that had an
article on U33C's on the BN.
To add a little additional diesel trivia here, Q was a somewhat
unique GE owner in several respects. First, they had the largest
fleet of U25C carbody U28C's of any road. These 16 Phase I U28C's
looked identical to the Q's 12 U25C's except for the loco
identification plate. There is an excellent article on the U25C with
great Q pictures in a back issue of Diesel Era magazine, including
info on the Q Phase I U28C's. (I can get the actual issue number if
anyone is interested).
In regard to the B-B U-boats, Q of course had its 6 U25B's 100-105
purchased in 1964, but where it really gets interesting is with the
10 U28B's (106-115) starting in 1966. These were delivered in the
Phase II U28B carbodies, not the Phase I's that were identical to the
U25B's. So there is a clear delineation between the U25B's and
U28B's. Where it starts to get confuding is when the 10 U30B's 140-
149 came in also in 1966. These Actually started life as U28B's but
were immediately upgraded to 3000 HP U30B's. Since GE used the Phase
II U28B carbodies on their Phase I U30B's these 10 U30B units are
identical to the 10 U28B's. Again, the identification plate is about
the only thing that differentiates them on the Q. Some Q rosters,
such as the one in Extra 2200 South magazine May/June 1971 list them
as U28Bm's, to show they were modified from the U28B's.
When Q got its second batch of U30B's in early 1968 (units 150-154)
GE had already moved the U30B to the classic full height radiator
Phase II U30 carbody shared by the C&S U30C's and later, the U23C's.
So these last 5 U30B's are very easily distinguished from any other B-
B U-boats on the Q. Two side notes - the CB&Q U30B made by Athearn
actually carries the correct number for the body style - it is a
Phase II U30B and carries the number 153. Second, the U30B's were in
Chinese Red, so the carbody similarities between the U30B's and
U23C's could confuse some people who didn't notice that the one was a
B-B U-boat, the other a C-C U-boat. Some could mistakenly think there
were Chinese Red U23C's on the roster.
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