.......I don't mean the kids, cousins, co-workers, pets, livestock, or that deer you shot last year- I mean those obscure diesels of every shape and size, toiling away in obscurity at a large plant, grain elevator, or other facility needing a locomotive around. Here's my shot to start things off: Former Relco 707, an Alco S3 originally built for the Ann Arbor RR as its number 5. It's now owned by the Southeast Nebraska Co-op in Beatrice, NE, where it's mated with an EMD switcher switching covered hoppers during harvest season (in this area, usually corn & milo). Shot this last week while up in Huskerland attending a funeral.
Everybody knows I'm a devout critter fan. I've got lots of photos but not many already loaded. But to contribute to the thread - here's one that's local that is possibly the oddest, rarest, and ugliest critter I've ever seen. This is an ATLAS, Cleveland, OH, about a 65-tonner, from the WWII era. It bounced around from the US Navy to American Bridge Co (Pittsburgh) to Cyclops Steel in Titusville, PA. When that plant closed it ended up getting donated to the local tourist railroad. There were only maybe six of these ever built of this size with the outside siderods. The locomotive is stored unserviceable as a display, but it's probably the only survivor of its type. The "OC the Train" isn't tagging, it's decoration as the mascot of the tourist railroad. This little guy is easily accessible on the other side of the parking lot of the OC&T tourist railroad in Titusville. I've described this one as "wet possum ugly", which in this part of the woods says you start with ugly, and then try to imagine a way to make it worse. The paint job manages that quite nicely.
This guy toils away at the GATX plant in Hearne, Texas. The plant builds new cars and repairs and refurbishes old tank cars and covered hoppers. It does not go very fast in spite of the flames painted on one of the hoods.
Here is a classic I found while digging through the archives at the Imperial Sugar Company main office. They inherited a lot of stuff from the Holly Sugar Company when the bought them out but never bothered to catalog any of it. There were just boxes and boxes filled with every kind of document imaginable. Was kind of like a treasure hunt.
What photos so far! This is Old 99, served on a dam on the Columbia River and now rests on display at The Dalles, Oregon:
This Plymouth 5ton FLB is at the Nevada County Narrow Guage Transportation museum in Nevada City,CA. By the way, she has recently been repainted into a nifty yellow and black scheme. Unfortunately I havn't been able to get a pic of the repaint yet. History is ex Apache Power.
Heres another. A Plymouth DDT also in Nevada City. The Northern Queen Inn offers train rides not far from the museum.
Okay, you asked for it. This one is an unknown chain driven type once used by Cal-Ida Lumber in Auburn,CA. After the mill burnt, it became a billboard for a church as seen in this pic. It has now been painted over in white and can still be "toured". By the way, I'm looking for pics in the original paint if anybody has any.
Whitcomb 25 tonner The Heart of Dixie RR Museum uses this 25-tonner as a shop switcher and as power for MOW trains on the Calera & Shelby Railroad. Here it is on display in 2006.
GE 44-tonner, Whitewater Valley Scenic, Connersville, IN, November 2005 45-tonner and (I'm guessing) a Plymouth, Ft. SMith Trolley Museum, Ft. Smith, AR
And I like this one. S-2s are my favorite switchers (okay, second favorite after Flexicoil-trucked SW1500s). And it's still got its Blunt trucks. Relco's yellow doesn't help its switchers look any younger, but I can't complain about the company that kept HH660s running so long. Do they still have any?
I've gotta pic of that one too. They work that enine hard at times between there and another elevator. The next yime your in Mattoon, give me a holler. We live 40 minutes SE of there inch
