Re: GE Narrow guage out there... Thanks Craig...
Author: Craig Tambo
Date: 08-20-2019 - 23:40
BOB2 Wrote:
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> Thanks Craig,
>
> Thanks for that list of GE NG's still out there in
> the US. Are the Oahu/Navy engines operating?
>
> I wonder if there are any hiding in back-shops, or
> on deadlines, or are still wandering around Cuban
> sugar cane fields, from the late 40's an 50's?
> Or, are there any hiding in Central, or South
> America?
>
> I remember like a 30 inch gauge (?) RR internal
> industrial switcher in the old Bethlehem Steal
> plant in Huntington Park that I believe may have
> been a Whitten, or one of the other "off-brand"
> industrial switchers in that size range. I seem
> to recall there was even a section of the plant
> where there was some dual gauge track.
The ex-Oahu GEs are used by C&TS on work trains. The Durango & Silverton one I've seen photos of is a big brick-like thing that they apparently use in passenger service occasionally. Now that I think about it, I believe the Yosemite Mountain-Sugar Pine RR (a few miles outside the south entrance of Yosemite on Hwy. 41) has one too. I remember the Bethlehem Steel plant you mentioned--I noticed the dual-gauge track, but I was more interested in the ex-SP SW1s and S-12 they had (isn't that where OERM's SP 1006 came from?).
A good place to see narrow-gauge industrial diesels at work is the Hawaiian Railway Society's museum railroad at Ewa on the west side of Oahu (www.hawaiianrailway.com). They have an ex-Army GE 25-tonner, three ex-Navy Whitcombs (two 45-tonners and an 80-tonner), and five miles of track to run on. A good excuse to go to Hawaii, right?