Development The GP30 was conceived out of the necessity of matching new competitor GE's
U25B. The U25B offered while EMD's
GP20 and its
567D2 prime mover was only rated at . The U25B also featured a sealed, airtight long hood with a single inertial air intake for electrical cooling, with a pressurized cooling system which kept dust out of the engine and equipment area. Finally, the entire GE design was optimized for ease of access and maintenance. The U25B demonstrators were receiving much praise—and orders—from the railroads that tested them. Meanwhile,
ALCO had been producing the 2,400 hp (1,800 kW)
RS-27 since 1959, though it had not sold well. EMD's engineering department pushed their DC traction system for an extra . The wasn't quite equivalent to the GE and ALCO offerings, but EMD hoped the railroads' familiarity with EMD equipment would improve their chances. The locomotive in which the 16 cylinder, 567D3 would be fitted, was improved along the lines of the U25B; sealed long hood, central air intake, and engineered for easier maintenance access. The frame and trucks of the GP20 were carried across; the extra equipment for the centralized air system required more space behind the cab, and since the locomotive was not going to be lengthened, extra space was achieved vertically by raising the height of the locomotive, giving room for the central air system, turbocharger and electrical cabinet all behind the cab. Marketing literature claimed 30 distinct improvements from the GP20 and that this was the reason for the number.
Sales and in service The GP30 successfully countered the GE threat and kept EMD in the dominant position in the North American diesel market. While losing a little power to the GE and ALCO competition, the solidity and reliability of the GP30—and the familiarity of railroad mechanical departments with EMD products—ultimately won many more orders for EMD. 948 were sold, in comparison to 476 U25Bs. In addition, the GP30 was only sold until the end of 1963, while the U25B was available until 1966. GP30 originally owned by the
Louisville and Nashville Railroad --
Oak Ridge, TN Most major railroads ordered GP30s, and many smaller ones did too. The largest orders were from the
SOU (120),
UP (111),
ATSF (85), and the
B&O (77). The sole purchaser of
B units (by the mid-1960s generally an outdated concept) was the UP, who kept the practice of running its locomotives in matched sets much longer than others. Thirteen of those GP30B units were fitted with
steam generators for heating
passenger trains, the only GP30s to receive them. Prior to
Amtrak,
UP would use a GP30 and two boiler equipped GP30Bs on passenger trains when no
E8s or
E9s were available. Some units for the
GM&O,
MILW and
SOO were built using trucks from ALCO trade-ins and therefore ride on
AAR type B trucks instead of the EMD standard
Blomberg Bs. An indisputable tribute to the quality of the GP30 design is the fact that a good number are still in service as of 2015, which is a service lifespan of over 50 years and well in excess of the design life of 25–30 years for the average diesel locomotive. Furthermore, when life-expired, some railroads chose to give them major
rebuilds instead of scrapping them. == Original buyers ==