Not quite a GG-1 but pretty close, IRM has South Shore 803 out this weekend. I had for the first time taken a good look at the Little Joe's trucks, wheels and such in good light. It seems that this locomotives basic structure is very similar to the GG1, no?

Looking at a few pictures I snapped today on the first day of IRM' 60th birthday party.
Thought I'd post a few on the members gallery, here's a link ti the folder.

http://www.irm.org/gallery/IRMs-60th-Birthday

Big storm blew through just before the Friday night shoot. Actually gave a nice wet look to the equipment.
Where else but the IRM can you ride behind a stainless E-5, a 4-4-0 steamer, and a Little Joe all on the same day.
UP's DDA4X was due in late tonight. This goes to Monday if your near by, website has the details.

No, I suspect not. While both have a pair of what I call "super trucks," each with a guiding truck and the super trucks are articulated together, how are the motors arranged? Are they the conventional nose suspended arrangement or something else? GG1's have a pair of motors for each drive axle, rigidly mounted and they are geared not to the axle but to the hollow quill which is also rigid to the super truck frame with the axle passing through it. The drive from quill to wheels is via spiders, springs and cups amidst the wheel spokes so the axle can move up and down as needed.

Steve

I can't think of anywhere else operating such a huge electric engine.

I think its a major achievement getting it out and about. They just swapped out an air compressor so they were test running it.

"Almost a GG1"? Actually the South Shore 800-Class locomotives are substantially bigger and heavier than a GG1. I am pretty sure this is the heaviest electric locomotive ever operated at a railway museum. At 545,600#, could this be the heaviest locomotive of any type ever operated in train service by any museum on their own tracks?

A video showing the size of this engine is posted on youtube here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQFRHfSydlg
(Note that IRM does not yet have pantograph runners installed at most of the trolley frogs, so must drop the pan and coast through.)

Impressive. Dropping the pan is one way to avoid having to rebuild the pan after it snags on a wire. Rebuilding a pan is a task one really wants to avoid - it takes hundreds of hours and measurements are all very sensitive.

Those things are HUGE. Back just before they were to be retired, I went out for a day of railfanning, accompanied by my then three year old daughter. Ended up watching one of the 800's switching Burnham yard, a job they inherited after the 700's were retired. The crew invited us up in the cab. To get there, I had to hold my little girl up at arms length over my head so the motorman could reach her... Once we were up on the main equipment deck, it was still another three steps up to the cab. When you are up in the cab, the combination of the height and the long nose blocking the near view makes it appear that you are running on a narrow gauge railroad. Great machines. Kudos to IRM for saving one and restoring it to its former glory.

Joe:
Not to mention tearing down the trolley wire and tieng up the railroad while it is being repaired. Seen that happen.

Was a car host today behind 803 with the caboose train, smooth ride but it really clunked over the rail joints.
I had never seen the 803 in good light outside and was surprised to see the larger diameter spoked drive wheels, and large articulated joint at mid frame, like the GG-1.
I found weight, horsepower etc. online to compare the two

Joe 2+D+D+2 … GG1 2+C+C+2
Weight on drivers Joe-184 ton … GG1-137 ton
Horsepower Joe-5,110 … GG1-4,620

Could not find drive wheel diameter.
Anybody have that.