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that offered the technologies necessary to meet the competition head-to-head. While the likes of EMD’s GP30 will certainly never be seen again on Class I rails, the transitional locomotive lives on today for model railroaders in the form of the well-respected Walthers- Proto HO-scale series of GP30 render- ings. Since first being released under the LifeLike Proto 2000 banner almost two decades ago, Walthers has contin- ued to tweak the GP30 tooling to offer diesel enthusiasts a number of highly detailed road-specific models over the past few years, the latest of which fea- ture the rich sounds and dynamic op- erational qualities of SoundTraxx’s Tsu- nami Digital Command Control (DCC) system. In its most recent GP30 offer- ing, the manufacturer is targeting fans of Union Pacific, CSX, Norfolk & West- ern, and, as shown in this review, South- ern Railway. Also available as standard Direct Current models, each road name is being offered in four limited edition one-time-run road numbers with DCC/ sound-equipped units retailing for $299.98 and standard DC for $199.98. Like the rest of America’s railroads in the late 1950s, Southern’s manage- ment kept a close eye on motive power developments as the transformation of the four-axle diesel-electric locomotive began to take shape. In particular, when General Electric debuted its 2,500-hp U25B in 1959, the locomotive-building industry was turned practically upside down. The new GE four-axle high-horse- power diesel featured such cutting-edge


technologies as a sealed carbody, a fil- tered centralized air intake system, and an equipment layout designed for ease of maintenance. Two U25Bs could do the job of three first-generation diesel- electrics. Although not fully up to the new standards set by GE with its soon- to-be-nicknamed U-boat, Alco had also entered the market with the release of its 2,400-hp RS-27 the year before. Once again, to keep its edge on the mar- ket, EMD was forced to scramble its design department as yet another lo- comotive horsepower race unfolded. The LaGrange, Illinois, builder had most recently introduced its 2,000- hp GP20 model, having been finally convinced by the Western railroads in particular to turbocharge its popular model 567 prime mover to gain more horsepower. With the higher output be- ing advertised by the competition, EMD engineers went back to the drawing board to try and milk the turbocharged 567 series engine for yet more power. Meanwhile, EMD’s carbody designers approached their counterparts at Gen- eral Motors’ automotive design group for a lesson in modern styling that would make its latest offering, which initially carried the internal designa- tion of “GP22,” a real standout in the crowd. In a record 22-month period, the diesel erector managed to create an interim locomotive that could com- pete with GE and Alco. While engineers could only boost its new locomotive’s power by a mere 250 horsepower, the marketing department cleverly masked


this fact by simply giving EMD’s lat- est offering a higher number designa- tion than what its competitors used on their new locomotives. The result was EMD’s rollout of the GP30 in 1961. The most distinctive visual charac- teristic of the 56-foot, 2-inch long EMD road unit had to be the new cab pro- file. Unlike the arc-shaped roofs of all EMD designs to date, the GP30’s roof was artistically fashioned to sweep backwards, matching the height of the unit’s taller electrical cabinet, and con- tinued aft to form a fairing that met the dynamic brake housing. At the heart of the new Geep contender was its 16-cylinder 567D turbocharged engine rated at 2,250 hp, which, al- though mediocre at best consider- ing the competition’s power output, did offer customers proven depend- ability. Besides the now-sealed electri- cal compartment, the 250,000-pound GP30 also boasted improved wheel-slip control, higher capacity traction mo- tors, a nominal 66,000-pound start- ing tractive effort, and an inertial-style air filtration system. The inertial air filtration system eliminated all car- body filters and supplied fresh air via a single blower to the main genera- tor, traction motors, and air compres- sor — an arrangement that became the standard for future locomotive design. For a second time, despite the slight difference in horsepower, EMD proved to be the leader as it entered the age of the second-generation diesel-electric. EMD built a total of 948 GP30s sold to


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