GE U28B

Technical Specifics

The GE U28B was a four-axle, B-B road switcher diesel-electric locomotive introduced by General Electric in early 1966. It emerged as the direct successor to the U25B, which had established General Electric as a serious competitor in the domestic road locomotive market against the long-dominant Electro-Motive Division. The transition from the U25B to the U28B was modest in scope, representing an incremental power increase rather than a fundamental redesign, and the model's production life was correspondingly brief, lasting only through 1966 before the U30B took its place. A total of 146 units were constructed during this single year of production, making the U28B one of the shorter-lived and less numerous entries in General Electric's Universal series. The model received attention even before its release, as Trains Magazine editor David P. Morgan addressed GE's decision to settle on a 2,800 horsepower rating in a November 1965 article that included line drawings of the proposed short-nose configuration. Buyers included several prominent American railroads, among them the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and the Louisville and Nashville, both of which received examples late in the production run. The U28B occupies a transitional place in General Electric's locomotive lineage. Early production units retained the body styling established by the U25B, while later examples incorporated design refinements, notably a shortened nose, that pointed toward the aesthetic direction GE would pursue in subsequent models. Though quickly superseded by the more powerful U30B, the U28B helped sustain GE's momentum during a period when the company was steadily gaining market share against EMD. Only two U28B locomotives are known to survive in preservation. One, originally built as Chicago, Burlington and Quincy 114 in December 1966, is held at the Illinois Railway Museum. The other, originally Louisville and Nashville 2504, is preserved at the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum, though it was rebuilt to U30B specifications during its working career.

Prototype Reference

Real-world information about this equipment type

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