Tidewater's Honorary Unit

TIDEWATER SOUTHERN

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Tidewater's Honorary Unit

UP 488, nee WP 2009, lays over in Milpitas on October 20, 1984 during its short career as a Union Pacific locomotive. In the summer of 1985 it was retired and sold for scrap after it blew its engine.

In the late 1970s and 1980s one locomotive seemed to ravitate to the Tidewater Southern on a regular basis: GP20 2009.

During the last years of the railroad the 2000 horsepower roadswitcher spent more hours on the Tidewater than any other unit; many observers wondered aloud if the engine would eventually be lettered for the Tidewater.

After the merger the 2009 became Union Pacific 488, the second GP20 to wear the number and the only high-hood GP20 to be repainted into Armour Yellow. After it emerged from the paint shop 2009, nee 488, continued to call on Modesto, sometimes in company of reassigned GP30s from UP's own fleet.

The unit made a minor footnote in Union Pacific locomotive history by holding the distinction of being the final GP20 to be retired by the railroad. It was also the only Western Pacific GP20 (and thus the only high-hood GP20) to be repainted into Armour Yellow. After emergence as second UP 488, the 2009 continued to call on Modesto, sometimes in company with reassigned GP30s from UP's own fleet.

Steam To Diesel

Seen in Modesto in 1981, WP 2009 begins its run on Ninth Street as it passes the Old Mill Cafe. The 2009 became the final GP20 on the Union Pacific system, becoming second 488. Even after the merger, 2009 continued to work the Tidewater Southern (Ken Rattenne)

When Tidewater Southern's sister railroad Sacramento Northern requisitioned the sole remaining electric locomotive on the property in 1946, this left the TS with only two steam engines, one of them very old. To keep things moving a WP switcher was borrowed to fill the void until Tidewater's own diesels could be purchased. The practice of borrowing engines from parent WP continued through 1982, and no doubt at some point every WP GP7, GP9 and GP20 did at least one stint on TS rails. While the GP20s and GP9s were the most commonly assigned units, as online traffic increased, larger road engines began showing up, especially on the unit grain trains bound for the Foster Farms chicken processing plant at Hatch.

WP GP9 725 shares the load with UP GP30 848 at Ortega, just moments out of Stockton Yard.