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...
Trains
Released on: 1976-02-14
Documentary
After shooting more short films and documentaries, Deschanel wrote, directed and shot Trains, a shor...
The Strait Guys
Released on: 2022-06-02
Documentary
THE STRAIT GUYS follows Czech-born mining engineer, George, and his fast-talking protégé, Scott, alo...
We
Released on: 2022-02-16
Documentary
An urban train link, the RER B, crosses Paris and its outskirts from north to south. A journey withi...
London's Railways in the 1960s
Released on: 2010-04-06
Documentary
The British Railways modernisation programme of the 1960s radically changed the rail network, and th...
When Giants Roamed: The Golden Age of Steam
Released on: 2005-01-01
History, Documentary
In the first half of the 20th century, America's railroads were radically transformed by the innova...
Massachusetts' Maine Attraction: The Edaville Railroad
Released on: 1991-01-01
Documentary
Massachusetts' Maine Attraction is the only definitive documentary on Edaville ever produced. Throug...
The Incredible Journey: Durango to Silverton
Released on: 1993-12-31
Documentary, History
This incredible journey features the famous steam trains that power through the spectacular San Juan...
Snowy Train
Released on: 2024-10-19
Documentary
Inside the train from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen, the snow-covered landscape and the darkness of the tu...
Canadian Pacific I
Released on: 1974-07-06
Documentary
Canadian Pacific I is made up of a series of slowly dissolved shots done from the same framing over ...
Canadian Pacific II
Released on: 1975-07-06
Documentary
Canadian Pacific II is designed as a companion piece to Canadian Pacific I. Shot from a window two ...
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...