GE U30C
Owner Quantity Numbers
Atchison , Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 6 400-405
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 4 3021-3024
Burlington Northern Railroad 180 5300-5394 , 5800-5839 , 5900-5944
Colorado & Southern ( Chicago , Burlington & Quincy ) 4 890-893
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 13 3300-3312
Chicago and North Western Railway 7 930-936
Chicago , Milwaukee , St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ( Milwaukee Road ) 8 5651-5658
Chicago , Rock Island and Pacific Railroad ( Rock Island ) 18 4582-4599
Delaware and Hudson Railroad 12 701-712
Detroit Edison 11 007-012 , 018-022
Ferrocarril del Pacifico 8 401-408
Kaiser Steel ( Eagle Mountain Mine Division ) 5 1030-1034
Louisville and Nashville Railroad 79 1470-1499 , 1534-1582
Missouri Pacific Railroad 35 25-29 , 960-983 , 3329-3334
Norfolk and Western Railroad 3 8000-8002
Pennsylvania Railroad 5 6535-6539
Reading Railroad 5 6300-6304
Soo Line Railroad 10 800-809
Southern Railway 5 3800-3804
Southern Pacific Railroad 37 7900-7936
Original owners
The GE U30C was one of the earliest successes from General Electric in the diesel locomotive market. With 600 units sold, the U30C proved to be a viable alternative for customers who were unable to purchase SD40s from Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) due to production backlog. Throughout its ten-year production span, the U30C was known for reliability issues concerning its electrical system. However, most railroads were assured of the reliability of the GE Model 752 DC traction motor, and began to place orders for U30Cs starting in 1966. When production ended, the last U30Cs carried pre-Dash 7 specifications, which would be carried in its replacement, the GE C30-7. The U30C served customers of all kinds, from mining, to general freights, coal trains, and even as a power source unit for the Department of Transportation's subway-car test tracks in Pueblo, Colorado before a connection from the commercial electric power grid could be established (Cudahy 1979). Not to be outdone in the freight sector, GE produced a passenger version of the locomotive, the GE U30CG. The U30CG only sold six units for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. When most U30Cs were being retired due to old age and mechanical or electrical problems, General Electric initiated a rebuild program where older Universal Series locomotives would be upgraded with the latest technology and fuel-saving systems. GE would then strip the locomotive down to its frame and engine, and completely rebuild the locomotive with new components. When completed, the unit would receive a new designation: GE C30-S7R (R for Rebuilt frame of traded-in locomotive). In the later years, the rebuild frame was discontinued, and a brand new frame would be used, re-designating the locomotive as GE C30-S7N (N for New frame).