Just days out of General Electric’s Erie works on June 28, 1964, and showroom fresh, Southern Pacific U50 8500 simmers under the El Paso sun, about to lend its considerable 5,000 hp to a westbound freight. GE created the twin-engine behemoths at the behest of SP’s transcontinental partner Union Pacific, which ended up with 23 of them. SP cautiously sampled three, the 8500-8502, and was not pleased. In and out of service, they lasted until the mid-1970s. Otherwise identical, SP’s differed from the UP version only by headlights and cab door located in the nose. None on either road were preserved.
Not
just heritage schemes, not just commemorative schemes - this album is devoted to some of the world's most interesting paint schemes, past or present.
