That photo link doesn't appear to work, but I assume that it's this rather anonymous looking loco that was parked at the end of the operating trolley line at Brooks when I was there in 2017.....

I couldn't find anything about it online, so at least I know what it is now!

This locomotive was purchased and brought to the WS by Jamie Haislip, who is also in charge of track maintenance. After it arrived I did some needle-scaling, wire-brushing (with a circular wire brush on an angle grinder) and applying of primer on upper portions of the locomotive as well as all that and applying black paint of the surfaces below the deck, but restoration stalled there as I was drawn away to work on other restoration projects. Other than some wire-brushing and application of primer I did inside the cab and on the roof within the last couple of months, nothing has been done on the locomotive for a number of years, although I hope to get back on it this year.

Whether or not it will ever actually run or if it will only receive a cosmetic restoration is uncertain. Before coming to Walkersville, scrap thieves cut the copper wiring out of the traction motors. It was possible the locomotive would only serve as a parts source for Jamie's ex-PRR 9331 and 9339, but with those up and running, that's not as likely. If it's restored to operational status, it's going to take a number of years.

Jamie bought that one (ex-USN 65-00439) too, and he tried to get all three at AC&F. It's now in operation on the WS. Jamie also owns WS 4 (ex-US Army 8538) that was trucked in from the Marion Industrial Center in Ohio.

Additionally, there is WS 45 (ex-US Army 7496), a sister GE 45-ton that belongs to Al Leyh.

Others:
Last year a GE 50-ton appeared on the Sterling Rail website. Sterling Rail doesn't provide an exact location of equipment for sale but the orange and blue colors of the locomotive in the photo identified this one as the plant switcher at the now-closed Mecklenburg Cogeneration LP, 204 Cogen Road, Clarksville, VA. The Comprehensive Guide to Industrial Locomotives says it was built in May 1952 with serial number 31537.

A source informed me that the locomotive was in line to be donated to the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad but reportedly the railroad could not, at that time (spring 2018), afford the trucking cost, hence its later appearance on Sterling Rail. Jamie Haislip tried to get it but someone outbid him, and where it went, I have no idea. Another source lists it as being at the WMSR but so far I've found no verification, only a past intention to accept a donation. Can anyone with knowledge of the WMSR roster confirm or deny its presence on the railroad, or tell us where it is now?

There is a GE 44-ton in Salem, NJ that was built in January 1953 as USAF 1245 with serial number 31869. By 1990 it was at Otis Air National Guard Base near Mashpee, MA, where it had little, if anything, to do. Acquired by the Bay Colony Railroad and renumbered 412, it later went to the Southern Railroad of New Jersey with the same number. It is now located next to a closed plant and it’s reportedly for sale. A source told me it has a bent axle from a derailment. Since the location is only two hours away I was tempted to drive there for a closer look, but a quick Google search made me reluctant to do so, as the search turned up this statement: "With a crime rate of 43 per one thousand residents, Salem has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes..." It's always best to know something about one's destination before arrival and a possible unpleasant surprise.

The Old Dominion Chapter NRHS acquired the GE 45-ton locomotive at the closed power plant in Hopewell, VA, and trucked it to the chapter's site in Hallsboro. This one is identified as having been built in December 1946 with serial number 27932 and was originally East Washington Railway 101. The chapter posted their effort online: https://www.richmondrailroadmuseum.com/ ... ngine-move

Former USAF 1245, later BCLR and SRNJ 412, appears to have left its long time home within the abandoned factory complex at the end of the line in Salem, NJ. A photo on RRPicturearchives from last September shows it leaving the location via truck. Unit appeared to still be in full, although faded and rusty, BCLR livery. Haven’t been able to find anything further yet regarding where it went or what has happened to it since.

An addition to your roster:

- GE 44 Ton, New York, serial 28342, built as American Cyanamid #5, displayed as Middletown & New Jersey Railroad #2 @ Operation Toy Train of New York, Port Jervis, NY (under operational restoration)

And some corrections to your roster:

- GE 44 Ton, Connecticut, serial 12946, built as New Haven #0800, does not still exist and has never been at the Danbury Railway Museum. The locomotive you are referring to is actually GE 44 Ton, Connecticut, serial 30854, built as Long Island #400, which went to the Valley Railroad in Essex, CT in 1969 and was painted as faux NH #0800. It was briefly leased to Electric Boat in 1973. The ex-LIRR locomotive is now at the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum in Willimantic, CT still in faux New Haven paint, but patched as CERM #0800.

- GE 44 Ton, Connecticut, serial 18192, built as New Haven #0814, displayed as Electric Boat "Carol" @ Danbury Railway Museum, Danbury, CT (under operational restoration)

- GE 44 Ton, Connecticut, serial 28344, built as GE demonstrator #1399 (sold to Union Pacific a month after construction), displayed as Electric Boat "Diane" @ Danbury Railway Museum, Danbury, CT (operational)

- GE 44 Ton, New Jersey, serial 20970, built as Hoboken Manufacturers Railroad #700, displayed as Tyburn Railroad #400 @ Tri-State Railway Historical Society, Boonton, NJ (under operational restoration)

- GE 44 Ton, New York, serial 17935, built as Western Maryland #76, displayed with no lettering @ Operation Toy Train of New York, Port Jervis, NY (part source)


Most of the above locomotives are covered in greater detail on http://www.44tonner.org. Also, I've had way more experience with 44-tonners in the past 16 months than I ever envisioned. I'll be working on WM #76 again tomorrow.....

Does anyone have information on - or photos of - the three 44-Ton engines (#s 1 through 3) that Electric Energy, Inc. purchased new in 1951 for the Joppa Steam Plant in southern Illinois?

It was photographed in Goshen, VA, on October 22, 2023:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPi ... ?id=268647

Jamie Haislip writes, "It is now switching for an industrial site near Richmond."


This one was trucked out of Salem, NJ, last year and for a long time it was MIA. In late October Tim Darnell kindly informed me that he had found a post on Facebook by Steve Barry with a picture and location, writing, "He only mentioned it's on Route 49 on the south end of Pennsville Township." A photo showed it in gravel and in the background there were some trucking trailers. Consulting my SPV rail atlas and Google Earth, I couldn't find railroad tracks anywhere near there, so it appears to be sitting on the ground and plans for its future are unknown.