Colorful GATX Plymouth; not sure if at Colton, California, or elsewhere:

http://abpr2.railfan.net/abprphoto.cgi? ... isplay.jpg

This is exactly the same type Plymouth (4 wheel/Detroit Diesel/chain drive) that Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Indiana is currently attempting to get running. HVRM has no idea as to where its Plymouth was in service. The ONLY identification on the unit is a road number (#1881) on the front of the cab. Also, not sure what Plymouth called this particular model. Do any museums have a similar model that is actually operational?

Les

Take a look at

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/diesel81.html

It's a collection of all sorts of Plymouths. You may find a match there. We at the WW&F Railway Museum (www.wwfry.org) have what I think is a 14 ton DDT (2ft gauge). Works great!

The GATX locomotive is pictured on the website. It is twelve rows down and three columns over. It is listed as a JLA 10T. Seems that their wasn't a color in the "crayon box" that didn't like being displayed on the little critter.

Don C.

The Pacific Locomotive Association has a similar locomotive in their collection (I understand it is really privately owned by a couple of their members)

It has a page on their website (including a photo) at http://www.ncry.org/roster/d_103/jla103.shtml

I do not have the book in front of me but there is a volume that is called something like Dinkys, Critters and Industrial Locomotives with an accomping web site.

Both have among other things a list of preserved light weight locomotives. They list equipment all the way down to 1.5 ton, 2 foot gauge gas critters.

In short everything you always wanted to know about locos smaller than 44 tons.

If I can remember I'll repost this with the full name when I get home tonight.

Ted Miles

The Plymouth in Niles Canyon is model JLA, serial number 3368, built in 1929 and still active with its original 800 cubic inch Climax 6 cylinder gasoline engine. It is used as the shop switcher.

Howard W

Seems that GATX liked these colors. There is a small tank car exhibited at the GATX car shop in Waycross, GA that until a couple of years ago was painted in a version of this same color scheme. Until the security fence was put up you could get close to photograph it on all sides.

I especially like this little guy, a 4 ton 2' gauge.
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/edav14a.jpg
I didn't know they had enough torque to pop a wheelie!


Serious question though. The GATX has a dome atop a cylinder, right next to the cab. What is that? Here's another one, which I know was retrofitted to that engine (wasn't there in the 1980s).
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/misc-s/smrs1ags.jpg

>>Serious question though. The GATX has a dome atop a cylinder, right next to the cab. What is that?
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That's the sand dome. Interesting that the one you mentioned had it retrofitted, I'd always thought the dome was standard equipment on the Plymouth HL models. I believe later-model Plymouths had the sand reservoir mounted internally somewhere.

Incidentally, an excellent resource for any and all questions regarding Plymouth or other industrial locomotives is the Yahoo groups' "Railcritters" discussion list.
J

I think the bell makes it unbalanced.

Les asked:


The Rochester & Genesee Valley RR Museum, in Rush NY has a similar, but slightly older Plymouth, model BL. It was donated to the Museum in 1999, and has been undergoing restoration, nearly since the day it hit the property. Last year, the engine was started for the first time in decades, and it moved under its own power recently.

Here's a recent photo:
http://www.rgvrrm.org/media/photos/news/news_20071027_05.jpg

And photos on this page show how it looked, on arrival at the Museum in 1999, and through various stages of its restoration
http://www.rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/plymouthbl/restoration.htm

John Redden
R&GV RR Museum

John -

An amazing restoration!

Les

Looks like they need to move that big bell toward the back axle - might help with the wheelie problem.

I worked occasionally with one of these things - about one size smaller than the one pictured - at the Bluewater Michigan Chapter, NRHS shop at Saginaw. It had a "Climax Trustworthy Engine," a real relic. It had been built for the Chris-Craft boat works at Holland, Michigan and when I learned that, I realized I had seen it at work as a kid being driven past the boat works to vacation cottages on Lake Michigan. Each bay in the boat factory had its own siding. (For boat fans, I saw the Alabama being cut up, too.)

Anyway, I always wondered why this thing was geared the way it was. I think it had a 3- or 4-speed gearbox, but I can't imagine getting it out of first in any kind of switching application. Even first was way too high for starting 70-ton coaches. The wheels essentially acted as a second clutch, and were worn hollow from the slipping. Any of the higher gears would have been usable only for high-speed merchandise service. What were they thinking? Were all Plymouths geared like this?

The Plymouth JLC that Greenfield Village has contains 4 speeds on the Climax RBU engine. It seems that first and second gear are suitable for switching, and third is good for traveling. I've never tried fourth!
The equipment that we switch is light, but it will move a 100 ton load of coal if necessary, which was how it earned it's keep in Detroit.