Lionel U36B 8771 Great Northern from 1977

A BARGAIN DEAL:
Lionel MPC era G.E. U36B 8771 & matching caboose $40 - I got a GREAT DEAL on these vintage Lionel toy trains made in the U.S. of America.
Lionel MPC was the post-1969 to 1986 version of the Lionel Toy Train company. General Mills the cereal company was already in the toy and plastic model kit business in the late 1960s when the Lionel Corp. was looking to offload itself of the toy train business. General Mills purchased tools, dies, molds, equipment and some stock of Lionel merchandise. Production moved from the East Coast to Michigan, in the Mount Clemens area. While Lionel MPC was not the same exact company as before, they carried on the tradition of the Lionel Corporation and many of the products made from 1970 to 1986 were updated and reissued often with updated paint schemes and road names which were not released during the 1950s or 1960s.
This was a new tooled model of the General Electric company's U-36B model of diesel-electric locomotive. The Lionel version was a well detailed, good looking addition to the Lionel fleet of locomotives and engines. It captured the look and the feel of the "U-Boat" series from G.E. many of which were visually very similar. Despite the engine being primarily used by the Seaboard Coast Line family of railroads and successors, Lionel would issue the model under a variety of road names and paint schemes during the 1970s and 1980s including Freedom Train, 75th Anniversary train, Disney train, Great Northern as shown here, Reading, Southern Pacific, Monon, Southern and others were all represented.
The LIONEL MPC era 8771 was made in 1977.
It headed up the Rocky Mountain Special freight set which headlined the starter sets that year.
The classic sky blue, white and black colors of the Great Northern Railroad capture one's imagination and you can almost feel yourself on the northern plains waiting trackside as a heavy diesel freight echoes in the distance, a Great Northern diesel leads a mixed freight along the endless ribbon of steel rails shining in the glowing sun of the Great Northern Plains.
The GE U36B is a four-axle 3,600 horsepower (2.7 MW) B-B diesel-electric locomotive produced by General Electric from 1969 to 1974. It was primarily used by the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad and its successors, although thirteen provided the power for the original Auto Train. The U36B was the last GE high-horsepower universal series locomotive.
Design
General Electric's "high-horsepower" universal series locomotives were built around improvements to the 16-cylinder GE FDL-16 prime mover.
The U36B, rated at 3,600 horsepower (2.7 MW), was the most powerful of the four-axle universal series and the last such design.
It was visually indistinguishable from the GE U33B, both of which were 60 feet 2 inches (18.34 m) long.
The locomotives rode on Blomberg trucks from traded-in EMD general-purpose (GP) locomotives.
Each locomotive weighed 270,000 pounds (120,000 kg).
The U36B shared large "bat-wing" radiators with other high-horsepower locomotives of its generation at the back.
The Seaboard locomotives had an 81:22 gear ratio, permitting a maximum speed of 75 miles per hour (121 km/h).
Enjoy what may be the last run of the Christmas tree layout for 2024-2025!

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Awesome bob

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THANKS!

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The sound is from an actual General Electric U-series diesel engine.