Union Pacific's Ubiquitous GP38-2s

Over the past year, a couple of articles on UP's ubiquitous GP38-2s have appeared in the Streamliner: the Union Pacific Historical Society's quarterly magazine.  The GP38-2 was one of my favorite locomotives both as a young railfan and a locomotive shop manager.  

UP 2039 (GP38-2) and UP 24592 (CA-13) at Blackfoot, Idaho (c. 1990)

On Sundays (the Aberdeen Local's rest day), I would frequently ride my bicycle down to the  cab track, climb into the cab of a 2000 series GP38-2 and settle into the engineer's seat.  This was before the days of 'autostart'; the crew would tie the power down and let it happily idle away over the weekend.  The normally aspirated 16 cylinders underneath the long hood produced a muffled rhythmic murmur and a comforting ever-so-gentle rocking motion that always made me feel as right as rain.  On Sundays, there was little to no action on the Montana Sub (or the North End).  I would frequently switch the radio over to 4242 and listen to the Pocatello West End Dispatcher.  The West End (or the Nampa Sub) was everything the Montana Sub wasn't: non-stop trains, CTC, Amtrak, etc..  In the winter, the cab was even more cozy and inviting.  I was a proverbial night owl during my teenage years and I spent many cold Saturday nights sitting in a warm engineer's seat bathed in the dim glow of indicator lights sipping hot chocolate while dispatchers worked their magic on the radio.  

UP 2035 and UP 24592 at Blackfoot, Idaho (c. 1990)

Fast forward several years to Hinkle in 2001: i'm sitting in my office editing the local power report at 2 am.  By that time, almost all of the locomotive servicing facilities and the mechanical forces at the smaller terminals east of Portland were gone.  Local power at The Dalles, Pendleton, La Grande, Wallula, Spokane, Trentwood and Sandpoint all had to come into Hinkle each week for fuel and servicing.  Many of the crews had particular items & requests for their power that they deemed to be mission-critical and essential.  The 2000 series (they were starting to become the 500 series at that time) were my 'swiss-army knife' when it came to making the local crews happy.  Most of them had cab signals, which kept the crews at The Dalles happy.  They all had onboard terminals (OBTs) which made the crews at Pendleton happy.  Their large fuel tanks created 'wiggle room' which made me happy.  Compared to the former Missouri Pacific GP38-2s that almost never strayed beyond yard limits, the 2000 series UP GP38-2s were extremely reliable, fast loaders and could pull almost anything.  On a handful of occasions, when no other power was available, we would power up short-haul trains (MHKBA, MHKSK, etc.) with 2000 series GP38-2s.  

From the dual perspective of a young railfan and a grumpy power manager, they were (and still are) great locomotives.