Union Pacific's Mighty Turbines (2001)
• December 10th, 2001 • 0h 46min
Documentary
Overview
Union Pacific has always been on the cutting edge of locomotive technology. In the 1950s, it became the only railroad ever to place a fleet of gas turbine-electric locomotives into regular mainline service. Here is the whole turbine story, from rare footage of an early steam turbine experiment in 1938 to the first gas turbine demonstrator in 1948. UP put 55 production units into service, the largest rated at 8,500 horsepower each – the most powerful locomotives ever built! You'll see the demonstrators and all three production models (including the unique "Veranda" models) hauling tonnage on scenic mainlines, moving through yards, and being serviced in engine terminals alongside steam engines and classic F-units. Along the way you'll learn how turbine locomotives operate and will explore the differences and similarities between turbine-electric and diesel-electric units. The saga ends with an experimental coal-burning turbine locomotive built by Union Pacific itself in 1962.
Make sure to check your pop-up blocker!!
Trailer
Similar Movies
The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat
Released on: 1896-06-30
Documentary
A group of people are standing along the platform of a railway station in La Ciotat, waiting for a t...
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
Released on: 1927-09-23
Documentary
A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides a...
The Nickel Plate Story
Released on: 1953-01-01
History, Documentary
The story of the independent railroad and its survival against the giants.
A Great Railroad at Work
Released on: 1942-01-01
Documentary
A documentary outlining railroad work and the effects on the lives impacted by the iron horse
Faces Places
Released on: 2017-06-28
Documentary
Director Agnès Varda and photographer/muralist JR journey through rural France and form an unlikely ...
RER B
Released on: 2017-06-09
Documentary
Alice Diop's enchanting short film, a work of transcendent transformation, shows how the rough lines...
Hitler's Steel Beast
Released on: 2017-01-20
Documentary
Trace the history of Hitler's armored private train, a 15-car mobile headquarters boasting state-of-...
Last Train Home
Released on: 2009-06-06
Documentary, Drama
A family embarks on an annual tormenting journey along with 130 million other peasant workers to reu...
Columbia River Gorge Volume 2
Released on: 2007-12-08
Documentary
Climbing gently from the tidewater ports near Portland, Oregon is the Columbia River Gorge'a wide, f...
Building the Channel Tunnel
Released on: 2019-06-12
Documentary, TV Movie
The Channel Tunnel linking Britain with France is one of the seven wonders of the modern world but w...
The End Of The Line: Rochester's Subway
Released on: 1995-05-01
Documentary, History
"The End of the Line - Rochester's Subway" tells the little-known story of the rail line that opera...
David Suchet on the Orient Express
Released on: 2010-07-07
Documentary
In this travelogue, actor David Suchet journeys across Europe aboard the world famous Orient Express...
A Tale of Two Thieves
Released on: 2014-04-12
Documentary
In 1963 in the countryside in England, fifteen men pulled off 'The Great Train Robbery' netting toda...
Big Easy Express
Released on: 2012-03-17
Documentary, Music
Indie folk heroes Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Tennessee’s Old Crow Medicine Show, and Br...
The Beast
Released on: 2010-01-01
Documentary, Drama
Each year, hundreds of Central American migrants try to cross the northern border of Mexico on the f...
Off the Rails
Released on: 2016-11-04
Documentary
The remarkable true story of Darius McCollum, a man with Asperger's syndrome whose overwhelming love...