Happened upon this 1924 shot of an MILW Bi-Polar electric. Click on the photo to enlarge it. That's one massive unit! http://www.junipergallery.com/node/6282
Yup. They were interesting. As a small boy, they scared the daylights out of me. Not sure why. Maybe the size by comparison. Maybe because this huge thing would come up so quietly. What was the occasion of this display? Some sort of transportation fair?
I assume it was an off-line display of some sort. It doesn't appear to be under wire, so it must have been towed to wherever that is. I agree, the Bi-Polars were very impressive machines. I never saw one, but saw photos at a young age and remember feeling "WOW". Were any saved and on display?
There is one in the museum at St. Louis, which a lot of folks would like to see brought back to the Pacific Northwest some day.
Here's a second shot. http://www.shorpy.com/node/18299?size=_original#caption One is on display at the National Museum of Transport in St. Louis. Jason
I'm wondering if the photo might be dated incorrectly and should be 1927, as taken at the B&O Railroad Fair in Baltimore at the time of the road's Centennial year. There's a B&O banner in the background that might help to support this.
A couple of interesting things to see. The pantograph shoes are missing. And the sign notes a speed of "65 mph". Ha ha ha. They were well known to exceed that by significant numbers....
Holy cow, what a great shot! All that vintage equipment boggles the eyes. Yep, just a yard sign alright. Looking at other signs, it appears to be a gathering of Shriners.
According to the verbiage with the picture - it was taken in 1924 in Washington, DC - the B&O facility there would have been Eckington Yard.
Here's a photo of a Bi-Polar east of Ringling, MT. I have no idea of when this photo was taken, and I spent many many hours riding with relatives working for the Milwaukee Road anywhere from Harlowtown, MT to Avery, ID and never saw one in Montana. I only saw one once when we were on a trip to Seattle. Don't remember exactly where as it was stopped in an engine facility we passed along the way. They are impressive locomotives. They they were used mainly in Washington.
