Oregon Electric (B-B+B-B) Locomotives

[ben13]

Does anyone know what happened to the Oregonb Electric B-B+B-B locomotives sold to the North Shore line after the CNS&M shut down? They were numbers 458 and 459.

Thanks, Ben

[artpeterson]

Both scrapped, I believe.

[daveklepper]

Where? At Roundout? Highwood?

[artpeterson]

I don't believe any of the equipment was scrapped at Highwood. Certainly, long strings of the passenger cars were assembled around South Upton, prior to being shipped to museums, or otherwise disposed of. For all the pictures I've seen of NSL passenger cars in that final "round-up", I don't immediately recall having seen any shots of the locos post-abandonment.

[Anonymous]

What is the Oregon Eletric I have never heard of them, where did they run?

[nanaimo73]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Lotus098

What is the Oregon Eletric I have never heard of them, where did they run?

They ran south from Portland Oregon to Eugene. It was a former electric Interurban that was owned by the Spokane, Portland and Seattle and was merged into BN in 1970. Most of it is now the Portland and Western-Willamette and Pacific.
http://www.trainweb.org/oerhs/oerhs.htm

http://www.spshs.org/

http://www.gwrr.com/default.cfm?action=rail§ion=3B4a

[daveklepper]

Around 1940 or 41, when the Oregon Electric and dieselized (it had gone freight-only earlier), the two fairly modern locomotives were sold to the North Shore, where they were used in freight service, often replacing two or three steeple-cab B B locomotives used previously. All the B B's were kept of course, because freight business boomed during WWII. One was also used once for a CERA fan-trip passenger special with three CNS&M dining cars and three regular trail coaches. Often they ran with two trolley poles up to contact the wire to insure good current colletion and less arcing. (i think they had a total of four trolley poles, at least when on the CNS&M, two each end.) As rebuilt, one was a long semi-box cab, and the other looked like a transfer diesel body, but electrically they were the same. Either one could handle any freight train of any length that the CNS&M ever ran without any assistance, and this probably meant up to about 50 of the 40-foot cars typical of the era.

[artpeterson]

North Shore also bought one additional "pup" steeplecab just before the war from the Arkansas Valley Interurban; it became NSL 457. As you said Dave, all of the smaller steeplecabs and the two battery-electric jobs (455 and 456) remained active through the late 40s. The original two steeplecabs, 450 and 451 were retired with the end of the TOFC service, with one of them (I can't recall which one right now!) going to Commonwealth Edison. It worked at CECo's Addison Street facility in Chicago, where it ran off third rail within the plant and on the connection to the C&NW.

Going back to the topic of ex-OE locos, the Fort Dodge Des Moines & Southern picked up a couple of the big center cab units, as well. Three of them, I think, but that's just my memory saying that! The OE locos were painted a real basic black with white striping, at least at the time they showed up on the NSL.