Georgia Road Transportation

The U30CH model was built in 1967 by General Electric as one of its first production offerings for the passenger market. ATSF would be the only buyer, taking six units total. ATSF was looking to upgrade its tired fleet of F units and minority builder ALCO units at the time in passenger train assignments. The ATSF passenger units were reconfigured U30C freight locomotives with a full body cowl and cab. ATSF ran its units in passenger service for only a few short years before a series of passenger train derailments sidelined them. ATSF could not rule out the six-axle truck configuration as a root cause of the derailments on passenger trains. The use of six axle units raised questions as to the fitness of the heavy nature of the freight designed units for high-speed passenger service on the jointed rail mainlines of the time. After seeing only a few short years running passenger trains, ATSF reassigned the units to freight service. By 1984, the units were traded to GE on new B36-7 freight locomotive orders. Official records of the time marked the units as scrapped, but somehow two units never found the torch.

The Georgia Midland Railroad (GAM) purchased the only two existing U30CH for what would be its 140 and sister unit 150 in 1986 from a scrap-resale dealer in Pennsylvania. The units were stripped, but the car bodies were complete. GAM sent its mechanical and locomotive maintenance forces to extract the two units from a long-overgrown backlot and ready them for movement by train to the GAM shops in Cedartown, GA. After arriving the units went through a two-year rebuilding process where they were meticulously restored to their former glory. Since the units were essentially stripped car bodies, both units were added into the ongoing DASH-7 rebuild program which converted U30 and U36 cores into DASH-7 rebuilds in the early 1990s. Both units were intended for GAM business train service and debuted in that role in 1990 as GAM celebrated its increased system with the addition of the former Georgia Railroad line from Atlanta to Augusta.

After working OCS and pinch hitting in freight service through the 1990s, both units were upgraded to the DASH-8 standards in 2000, debuting the GAM “Millennium Blue” scheme designated as model U30CH-8. As with the original rebuild in 1988, pains were taken not to change the original form of the carbody. The untimely death in 2004 of the much-loved GAM owner, William Wes Downs, saw 140 and 150 make their final trip under independent ownership as leaders on his funeral train. Georgia Road quickly stepped in and bought the Georgia Midland and all its subsidiaries, quickly integrating the operation into its existing lines under its Georgia Midland name. Downs was known for his affinity for GE products, with the roster being an eclectic mix of every GE model produced. Georgia Road, however, was stanchly EMD at the time, and it quickly stored much of the older GE fleet including the U30CH-8s. To prevent critical power shortages, Georgia Road was forced to run the newer GE rebuilds and builder new units already on the books at the death of Downs. In an interesting turn of events, the “Downs GE influence” would allow GE to capture sales not only on the old GAM lines, but the Georgia Road proper.

After being stored serviceable inside the closed Cedartown Shops for almost a decade, Georgia Road returned the units to service as OCS and geometry train power along with P30CH 130, which Downs acquired shortly before his passing. The unit was to become a third passenger unit, but he did not live to see that it was completed. Georgia Road opted to complete the unit as he intended, painted in GAM Georgia Central subsidiary colors with GCR red instead of GAM blue. As of 2023, the units work both OCS, Engineering and Excursion trains, assigned out of the Passenger car shops at Fred M. Dale Yard in Irondale (Birmingham), Alabama. The 150 bears the name of the GAM founder and owner, William “Wes” Downs.