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(erielack) Re: EL What If - U23Bs

The one thing you have to remember was the GP38-2s and U-23Bs were not anything
that the EL chose to purchase or add to their roster.  These units were USRA-funded,
ordered and to be paid for by the government just like the LV U-23Bs.  Since EL was
slated to become a component of CR by 1974, the USRA was prepared to buy for them
the same type of units they did for LV.  I don't think the choice of model was up 
to the EL here.  They just looked upon it as free power and caved in any of their 
own demands.

Only after the many attempts to reorganize EL (as MARC and others) into a stand-alone 
competitor to the USRA's Conrail in 1975 and 1976, did the USRA's order for the EL 
equipment get cancelled.  No reason for USRA to fund equipment purchases for EL when 
MARC or whoever will be USRA's future competition.

The USRA order for LV U23Bs carried GE builder numbers 40098-40109.  The EL units 
were ordered at the same time, and were to follow as 40110-40129.  These units ended up
as part of a 25-unit L&N order, becoming L&N 2800-2824 with B/N 40110-40134.  Either
the original order was for 25 EL units (would be roughly twice the size of the LV order)
and we EL fans have had the 20 quantity wrong all along, or GE had no sales in between 
USRA's EL order/cancellation and the L&N redirection order, whereas the EL-allocated 
B/N series could have been expanded to allow for the additional 5 units.  I am slowly 
trying to confirm the latter, scouring databases looking for any other GE orders in 
between those dates.  Most GE production around that timeframe was slow, with an 
average order of 25 units taking up to 3 or 4 months to come out.

In any event, the units delivered to L&N were modified before delivery and had a 
different size fuel tank (smaller), a different type of truck (FB-2), and a GTA-11 
alternator rather than GT581 generator that USRA ordered.  Other L&N U-23B production
was given road numbers 2708-2772 (after ex-Monon 2700-2707).  The other non-modifyable
USRA specs had to be sufficiently different for L&N to give the USRA units the L&N 
2800-series numbers, rather than continuing them as L&N 2773-2797 (maybe heavier?)

The last U-boats built, in 1977 as CR U23Bs 2789-2798, were the same spec, same weight, 
and same trucks as the LV/EL orders, except at this late date the generator concept 
had been phased out in favor of alternators as standard equipment, and these units were
GTA-11 equipped.  So the two USRA/CR orders which did make it onto the CR roster were 
not completely identical.

As an interesting sidenote, L&N 2803 (neverbilt EL 2304) was wrecked at Franklin TN 
on 8-6-78, and L&N 2818 (neverbilt EL 2319) was wrecked at St. Joseph TN on 7-6-78. 
The 2818 was rebuilt at the L&N South Louisville shops and renumbered L&N 2803:2 
while wrecked 2803 was renumbered 2818:2 (clearing the 2803 number) and was retired
in wrecked condition.  Must have been a loss of life in the 2818:1 wreck.

So....

When it comes to the What-Ifs, don't assume that the EL would have had these low HP
units on the roster had it survived independantly.  They would only have been added 
to the roster had EL unequivocally committed to pre-joining CR in 1974.


Another question I am trying to answer is whether the USRA/EL GP38-2s were ordered to 
PC specs or not, and were those the same specs that the LV units were built to?   
EMD was known for helping out alot of insolvent railroads by equipping them with 
cheap GP38-2s; PC included.  Most of the EMD-purchase-assisted GP38-2s had arrived on 
PC by early 1973.  Did USRA just dust off those plans/specs?

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