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[CBQ] Re: Modern Locomotive Roster and Numbering system

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Subject: [CBQ] Re: Modern Locomotive Roster and Numbering system
From: "thommack" <thommack@yahoo.com>
Date: Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:24:59 -0000
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Part 1 of 2 - Final Installment

(Since this is a long post, I have split this post into two parts.)

In the beginning, the first freight units, the EMD F-Units, were put in the 
100-series with suffixes. The highest number was F7A 169C. So that left 170-199 
open ? not much room.

When the 4-axle GP7 road switchers started coming in, the Q put them in the 200 
series. The more powerful GP9's went right above the GP7's, but skipped the 
last available numbers in the 260-series:

GP7 200-267
GP9 270-289

So except for starting the GP9's off in their own series (270's instead of 
starting with 268), the Q kept the 4-axle first generation road switchers 
together. (Interestingly the Q did not seem to have a standard on whether to 
number new units consecutively above the older units or start with a new 
numeric block. For example, the different model EMD switchers followed each 
other consecutively, so you have SW7's 9249-9268 followed by SW9's 9269-9270, 
followed by SW1200's 9271-9292. The same goes for 6-axle U-boats and other 
locomotives.)

The 6-axle contemporary of the GP7 was the SD7, and the Q decided the 6-axle 
road switchers should have their own number series, starting in the 300 series. 
When SD9's started arriving, these were also put in the 300 series:

SD7 300-324
SD9 325-374

In addition to the main road service SD7's, Q bought 12 lightweight non-D/B 
SD7's for branch line service. To keep these separate from the heavier SD7's Q 
put them in the 400 series.:

SD7 400-411

So if we look at the diesel roster build chronologically, instead of 
model-wise, we see Q was splitting out their locomotives based on the number of 
axles and assignment:

100-series: First generation frieght units (F-Units)

200-series: First generation 4-axle road switchers (GP7)

300-series: First generation 6-axle road switchers (SD7)

400-series: First generation 6-axle light road switchers (non-DB light SD7).

When the GP9/SD9's came out, the Q filled in the numbers after the GP7/SD7 
units. When they did not have enough number slots in the 376-399 range for 
their order for 30 SD9's in 1957 (some of which were single control stand SD9s 
units) they put those in the 400 series, starting with 430. So much for keeping 
the 400 series for "light" 6-axle road switchers! So the Q was willing to 
"change" their apparent numbering rationale when needed.

In 1959 the Q ordered its first turbocharged, 6-axle freight motors. So where 
were these put? The 500 series of course:

SD24 500-515

In 1960, with the advent of EMD 567 turbocharged second-generation 4-axle 
power, the Q decided these would go in the 900 series, starting with the 
GP20's. (Why the skip from the 500 series to the 900 series? Because C&S and 
FW&D diesel locomotives were already numbered in the 600 and 800 series.)

GP20 900-935
GP30 940-977 (note the jump to the 940 series)
GP35 978-999 (note the consecutive numbering from the GP30's)

Clearly the above shows Q sometimes jumped some numbers, other times did not. 
When you are at 935 and have 64 more locomotive numbers available in the 
series, it is easy to skip numbers. When you are at 977 and only have 22 slots 
open, you aren't so picky!

In 1964 when the Q was buying its 2,500hp EMD's, GE had its 2,500hp U25B 
available, and Q started testing the GE waters. It ordered six U25B's. Where 
would the new GE power go? By this time, all the early F-Units were gone, so 
the low number 100 series was wide open. So the first order for GE road power, 
the U25B's, went into the 100 series:

U25B 100-105

In 1965 GE had the 2,500hp 6-axle U25C available, which was competing with the 
EMD SD35, but on the Q, the competition was the existing 2,400hp SD24's. So 
when the Q bought U25C's in 1965, for whatever reason they decided the GE's 
would go into the 500 series, along with the EMD SD24's ? but starting at 550, 
instead of right behind the EMD SD24's or starting a new 700 series for 6-axle 
GE's. (Remember, 600 series was already taken by FW&D switchers.) This "jump" 
would give room for more high horsepower 6-axle EMD's, and did come in handy 
later. It also parallels the earlier WWII multi-manufacturer switcher numbering 
scheme where the Alco S-2's were numbered 9300-9308, and Baldwin VO1000's 
started at 9350 up to 9379.

In 1966 Q went back to GE for the more powerful U28C version of the U25C 
locomotives, and bought Phase I U28C's 562-577. These were numbered right 
behind the U25C's. So here is what the 500 series looked like in 1966:

SD24 500-515
U25C 550-561
U28C 562-577

In 1966 the Q also bought 20 U28B's from GE. This is one of the most peculiar 
roster numberings on the Q. By the time the Q ordered U28B's GE had abandoned 
the Phase I U28B carbody (identical to the last U25B carbody) and was in the 
Phase II carbody, which included the introduction of the classic, stubby U-boat 
nose (first introduced on the U25C) to the 4-axle U-boat line. The Phase II 
U28B also had a larger and redesigned radiator system from the U25B that would 
allow it to be upgraded to a 3,000hp U30B (which Q did in fact do with its 
U28B's). The U28B's were put into two very distinct number series:

U28B 106-115 (following the U25B's)
U28B 140-149

So the Q was clearly planning on using the low 100's ? once the domain of EMD 
F-Units ? for high horsepower GE 4-axle road switchers. Here is where the 
numbering gets even stranger, however, beyond the question of why the Q skipped 
from 115 to 140 on U28B's. The 20 U28B's in the 106-115 and 140-149 series were 
all part of the same order and had 20 consecutively numbered builder's numbers. 
But they were built as follows:

U28B 106-110 Builders Numbers 36101-36105 Built 10-66
U28B 140-149 Builders Numbers 36106-36115 Built 10-66 and 11-66
U28B 111-115 Builders Numbers 36116-36120 Built 12-66 and 01-67

Why did the Q start with 106-110, switch to the 140 series, then come back to 
111-115 on these locomotives? If anyone has any insight, please let us know!

At this point, we are at the era of the new generation of EMD 645 powered road 
switchers (GP40, SD40, SD45), and high horsepower (3,000hp and above) GE's, 
like the U30B, U30C, and U33C. So let's look at the final stages of CB&Q 
locomotive purchases and numbering, and then consider how this could evolve had 
the Q continued to grow, but without the BN merger. 


Tom Mack
Cincinnati, OH



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