LARGEST- Railroad locomotive in the world -St. Louis MO
Posted by: 
kJfishman
N 38° 34.267 W 090° 27.747
15S E 721067 N 4272238
Union Pacific's Centennial locomotive 6944
Waymark Code: WMQRZY
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 03/25/2016
Views: 4
One of Union Pacific's Centennial locomotive 6944, is on display at the Museum of Transportation St. Louis Missouri.
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Overview
Union Pacific's Centennial locomotives were the largest railroad locomotive in the world. These distinctive giants dominated the railroad's western mainlines from 1970 through early 1980, and were seen on all of the railroad's most important trains. Built as a unique-to-UP design, they were constructed by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors Corporation.
Numbered as UP 6900-6946, they were known as "Centennial" locomotives because the initial deliveries started on the 100th anniversary of the May 10th 1869 driving of the golden spike at Promontory Summit, Utah. UP 6900 was rushed to completion to allow it to be part of the various ceremonies that took place in Utah on May 10th 1969. Delivery of the rest of the units began a month later and continued until September 1971. The 6900s were delivered in two groups: UP 6900-6924 (delivered in June to December 1969), and UP 6925-6946 (delivered in June 1970 to September 1971). The two groups were identical except for some very minor differences.
These 47 locomotives were the longest diesel locomotives ever built, at 98 feet, 5 inches. Their frames were too long for EMD to manufacture and were fabricated by the John Mohr Company of Chicago. Their fuel tanks were also the largest of any diesel locomotive, with a capacity of 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel, making the fuel tank weigh 30 tons fully loaded.
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