Just beginning work on 1948 GE class B-50 / 50-1 GE733 25 ton diesel electric locomotive (CN 29241).

My library includes manuals for 44 tonners of that era and larger - can anybody help me out with a manual for this little critter?

dave

Dave,

What? You want to read the instructions? Where's the challenge in that?

Anyway, what kind of engine does it have in it? Is it 1 motor or 2? Are you guys ever going to get the other little 2 axle engine from the steel mill?

I have a pile of manuals in boxes in my basement - I seem to recall having one for a 2 axle 25 ton GE. Give me a chance to look for it. I'll follow up with you if I find it.

How's the #12 doing?

Phil

One elderly Cummins rebuilt. No idea about another ingot hauling hog, other than there's one out there somewhere.........Pueblo, probably.

It is very like half our #21, so we are calling it number 10 1/2.

dave

A friend has a 3’ gauge GE 25 ton 1948 unit with a single traction motor, and a Cummings 6 cyl diesel engine on his new tourist railroad, the Kauai Plantation Railway in Hawaii. If available he would love documentation on the electrical system. He notes “our engine has gone through so darn many "fixes" in the wiring that it is a total mess - we want to re-do most of the primary wiring, but are afraid to because we have no way to know how to hook it up again!! We don't know of the present way it is wired is "stock", or some sort of field-mod done by the several previous owners.”

This is the former Arkansas Lime loco. His other loco is a 1939 Whitcomb diesel mechanical he purchase from the SPCRR at Ardenwood. There are also 2 Baldwin Hawaiian 6 coupled tank locomotives, located in the Philippines, which are awaiting rebuilding in California.

More information on his line found at http://www.kauaiplantationrailway.com/

Randy,

With your guy in Hawaii, I would suggest that he rewires the 25 ton locomotive the same way I am with our S-4. The wiring diagram we have for our locomotive has about 30 wires marked #1 because they all are connected to buss bar pin 1, and pins 2-5 all have jumpers connecting them back to 1, so for us the diagram was practically useless to trace a ground fault problem we were having. Also some of the wires #1 were found located between two components because they bounced off a terminal which had a wire connected to the jumped section of the buss bar. The GF problem finally tuned out to be because the wires were still the original rubber & fiberglass insulated wires which were falling apart in the looms. One of which after I traced it turned out to be ~6 feet long with 6-8 crimped butt splices all in a 2 foot area, some had the butt splice insulation collar removed in order to get the next one close enough to bridge the problem.

Since I do drafting for my regular job, I have created a drawing of all 4 walls of the cabinet and I am tracing the wires one at a time and recording all the runs as separate wire numbers. As I remove each wire I leave a 2 inch length of wire on the ring lugs attached to the components and apply a wire number to both ends of the line, as a cross check to my list. After al of the wires are removed the new ones will be installed following the list. The best part of this is that all the updates are included in the final version, so if it worked right before we started, it should work correct again when we are done at least in theory.

Rich C

Dave,

All I have is a manual for a 44 tonner. As mentioned above most everything should still apply to a 25 tonner, at least when it was built.

This engine has a single traction motor, correct? Does it have a mechanical or air throttle?

Sorry I wasn't of more help.

Phil

Wouldn't a 25 tonner be half of a 50 tonner?
Anyway, was there a difference between a "44 ton" and a "45 ton" engine (excepting, of course, 1 ton)? I know a lot of 44 tonners had Caterpillar engines in them - I think GE let the customer have their choice of what engine they wanted. A lot of 44 tonners were re-engined during their lives - changing the make of the engine from Caterpillar to Cummins was common. I'm not sure why that would be as the Caterpillar engines are pretty rugged. Could be that the Cummins salesman was just better than the Caterpillar salesman. The C&TS re-engine of their #19 from 1944 vintage Cat V8 D17000's to 2007 in line 6 cylinder engines seems to be successful. Looks like the Caterpillar salesman won that time.
Dave, you might consult with the D&S in Durango as they have been working on a lot of industrial GE locomotives lately. They may have some insights and suggestions for you.

Phil

Phil -

Amen to that! Our 1941 center cab Whitcomb 44-tonner still has its two original Caterpillar V-8 diesels in it, and it still runs just fine.

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)

A General Electric factory option on a 45 ton loco was 5 extra tons of ballast to make it a 50 ton loco!
The G.E. 44 ton loco was usually the oddball of the 25 - 44 - 45 - 50 - 65 - 80 ton line. All of the others usually had Cummings engines.

Western Star Rail Services, in Newark, Ohio, has manuals for many GE industrial locomotives and sells copies. The firm specializes in rebuilt components for these locomotives. Their phone number is 740-344-3336.

Help! I need a replacement for this key, We only have one copy, and I need one to access this caboose.
I will be happy to buy it and pay shipping
Picture below

Blast from my past, but what's it got to do with a caboose key? Might want to start a new thread about the key so it can be found.

Dave, I messed up, but I did start a new thread for the key

The question was asked about the difference between a 44 and 45 ton GE locomotives. It is a matter of the gearing; the 44s can be a road locomotive and a lot of them can be MUed.

The 45 were switchers to work at slow speed in a yard environment.

We have three of them at the Western Railway Museum;
all three from Interurbans after the wire came down.

Ted Miles, WRM Member & Volunteer

GE 44-ton locos have heavier frames, four traction motors, and higher speed gearing (up to 30-35 mph). They are designed for a 100% duty cycle, and are considered "railroad grade".

GE 45-ton locos have two traction motors, one per truck with the second axle powered by the side rods or chain drive. Top speed of 20 mph, and GE quoted a 50% duty cycle, for intermittent industrial and interplant use. Few shortlines used 45-tonners.

Howard P.