Review by Justin Sobeck/model photos by Tony Cook
Atlas rolls out an all new locomotive that further complements its N scale General Electric (GE) four-axle line. The new 1:160 Master Line U33B/U36B release will fill some late 1960s and 1970s era gaps for many hobbyists. Atlas has offered GE’s U23B for two decades in the Master Line, and U25B as a Classic-branded release since the late 1990s. This N scale debut from Atlas provides three U33B road names and two U36B road names. The assembled U-boat reproductions are offered in a $274.95 Gold edition (DCC-sound) and $159.95 Silver edition (DC with EC24 connector and factory-installed speaker).
Let’s learn about the prototype, Penn Central (PC) 2937, and have a look at this new Master Line locomotive model and its enhanced features.
GE’s Universal series, with a “U” designation leading the labeling, U33B and U36B, might represent the biggest leap for the builder in the early second generation diesel era horsepower race, jumping from 2,500-hp of the debut U25B model up to 3,000-hp for the U33B and 3,600-hp for the U36B. Only four roads rostered the 137 U33Bs built between 1967 and 1970, which spawned the familiar winged rear radiator design appearance that continues to this day on GE units. Weighing in at 270,000 pounds and 60’2” long, U33B and U36B locomotives rode on AAR Type-B and traded-in Blomberg trucks (depending on the buyer). The Electro-Motive Blomberg trucks were modified to accept GE’s 752-type traction motors.
ABOVE: Penn Central 2916 in October 1970. General Electric’s four-axle U33B found its stronghold on Penn Central roster. New York Central started the collection with two units delivered ahead of the 1968 Penn Central startup. Penn Central’s more than 80-unit fleet dwarfed rival collections operating for Rock Island and Seaboard Coast Line. —Photographer unknown, Jason Quinn Collection
Penn Central (and successor Conrail) rostered most of the U33Bs (including two delivered to New York Central before the 1968 Penn Central merger). Those New York Central U33Bs received 2858 and 2859 road numbers, while units arriving after the merger were PC 2890–2970. Rock Island bought 25 (wearing their maroon and yellow scheme with white speed lettering), and Seaboard Coast Line (SCL) purchased 29 units. Three roads rostered GE’s output of 125 externally similarly appearing U36B (built between 1969 and 1975). They were largely sequestered to the East Coast region of the U.S., split between Auto-Train Corporation, Conrail, and Seaboard Coast Line.
The brightest of this U-boat bunch was SCL U36B 1776 in its bold Bicentennial colors, followed by Auto-Train’s distinctively 1970s scheme with white, red, and unique shade of fuchsia (purple trucks were all the rage back then), and some of the Rock Island units made it to the bankruptcy blue and white scheme. Secondhand owners included Conrail, Boston & Maine (later Guilford Transportation), and Reading & Northern, a regional railroad in northeastern Pennsylvania. CSX 7764 is assumed to be the last remaining U36B (built as SCL 1776), and it was fortuitously set aside as a first responder training aid, used as part of the Massachusetts Call Volunteer trainset. It is preserved among a diverse and unique collection of other GE products at the Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East, Pa., not far from the Erie complex where many GE locomotives were built for decades.
Penn Central 2937 was built in December 1968 (serial number 36950 and part of order 1411), delivered in the scheme Atlas portrays on its model. This basic, but sharp look, con-trasted yellow step edges and handrails against a solid dark carbody color with white lettering and PC logo. There is quite a bit of controversy about Penn Central locomotive colors – Brunswick Green, Dark Green Locomotive Enamel (DGLE), or shoe polish black. Having not seen anything but NS 1073 (PC Heritage unit) in person myself, this is a fun topic, and I consider myself to have a good color judgement and film or color corrected digital photos may shift and not provide a true basis…
Atlas Model Railroad Co.
N-scale Master Line Silver
U33B diesel locomotive standard DC
Penn Central 2937
40 005 942, $159.95
Atlas Model Railroad Co.
