GE 70-ton switcher
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 Ex-Southern Pacific No. 5100 at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, in Portland, Oregon, in 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The GE 70-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between about 1942 and 1955. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. The first series of "70 tonners" were a group of seven center-cab locomotives built for the New York Central Railroad in November 1942. These units differ from the later end-cab versions. Locomotives exported to Brazil were known as GE 64T (70 short tons or 63 long tons or 64 metric tons) and nicknamed "scooters".
Survivors
[edit]Two of the end-cab versions exist on display at the Whippany Railway Museum, Whippany, New Jersey, United States, originally purchased by the Rahway Valley Railroad, headquartered in Kenilworth New Jersey, as RV16 and RV17. They were placed into service in 1951 and 1954, respectively, and operated through the closing of the shortline rail business in 1990. Both are owned by the United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey. Restoration was done on site in Whippany.[2]
Preservation
[edit]Frisco (St. Louis – San Francisco Railway) 70-ton #111 B&Y scheme at Heart of the Heartlands.[3]
Baltimore & Annapolis Railroad No. 50 resides at the B&O Railroad Museum Archived 2012-01-11 at the Wayback Machine in Baltimore, Maryland.
Southern Pacific 5119 resides at the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Association in Campo, California. It is maintained in operational condition and is regularly used in excursion service over a section of the San Diego & Arizona Railway.
High Point, Thomasville & Denton Engine #202, a 1948 General Electric 70-ton, has been restored by a private owner and is currently used as one of two locomotives for a recreational railroad at Denton FarmPark in Denton, North Carolina.[4][5]
A GE 70-ton in metric gauge and C-C trucks is in operation at the railway museum line of Brazilian Railway Preservation Association (ABPF)[6] in Campinas - SP. It is painted in Mogiana Livery and carries ABPF Nº 03
Only one of the center-cab locomotives exists, former Ellwood Engineered Castings 6114B preserved by the Tod Engine Foundation [7] in Youngstown, Ohio.
References
[edit]
- ^ Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 153–158. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.
- ^ "Rahway Valley Locomotives #16 and #17". Whippany Railway Museum. 2012-12-02. Archived from the original on 2013-03-18. Retrieved 2013-04-06.
- ^ "Yahoo | Mail, Weather, Search, Politics, News, Finance, Sports & Videos". Archived from the original on 2009-10-26.
- ^ RR Picture Archives, Photos of HPTD 105, Retrieved Apr. 6, 2022.
- ^ Denton FarmPark, Handy Diesel Locomotive, Retrieved Apr. 6, 2022.
- ^ "Locomotiva histórica volta para os trilhos nesta terça". 30 April 2013.
- ^ "Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation - EEC 70 Ton Diesel Locomotive". Todengine.org. Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2013-04-06.