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Show UP TO BUY 200 LOCOMOTIVES Union Pacific Railroad has just placed the largest locomotive loco-motive order in its 115 year history totaling $153 million for 200 new iron horses. "We simply need more power to handle the rapid expansion ex-pansion of our freight business," busi-ness," said John C. Kene-fick, Kene-fick, president of the Omaha-based Omaha-based railroad. "Last winter's win-ter's severe weather put a tight squeeze on our existing exis-ting fleet and we don't want that to happen again,". UP's present fleet numbers a little over 1,500 dieselelec-tric dieselelec-tric locomotives and 70,000 cars. The railroad has recently reported major increases in several kinds of freight in-' eluding grain, coal, ores, chemicals, automobiles and piggyback trucks. The new locomotives will range in price from $726,000 to $811,000 each with delivery de-livery to begin next fall and be completed in the spring of 1980. All will be 3,000 horsepower. Kenefick said the new order or-der is in addition to large purchases of locomotives in the recent past. In 1977 UP purchased 90 locomotives, loco-motives, in 1978 it added 100 and had already placed orders for 150 locomotives to be delivered this year. This represents a total investment in-vestment of $373 million for 540 locomotives in the four .year period, the UP president presi-dent said. |