Who would be using them and what type of locomotive would be the oldest ones in use on a freight railroad in the United States. Please exclude engines being used on tourist type operations.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Most likely, it will belong to an industrial plant somewhere.
George
Maybe BNSF 3300 the only SW1 on the Roster as the SW1 was built in September of 1941 which means it was around before we as a Nation entered WW2. I hate to think how many cars that frame has slammed into it was first GN 5103 then it became GN and BN 77 then WWV 77 then SLSF 10 then when the Frisco got bought out by the BN it was requaired by the BN and became #70 of the BN now it is 3300 of the BNSF talk about alot of Numbers in her past.
I believe - but can't prove - that it might be an ALCo S-1 or S-2 end-cab switcher dating back to the late 1930's someplace.
A good place to start looking:
http://www.thedieselshop.us/FirstGen.HTML
Smile,Stein
watch?v=qCH5Uo6FIM&feature=related
Notice FP7 stuck in the middle
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
Iowa Traction in Mason City, Iowa has four electric locomotives dating from 1917-1923 in regular freight service. It has not carried passengers since 1936.
http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/MasonCity/
LNER4472 Iowa Traction in Mason City, Iowa has four electric locomotives dating from 1917-1923 in regular freight service. It has not carried passengers since 1936. http://web.presby.edu/~jtbell/transit/MasonCity/
One hopes the rumors heard are not true. Officials in the City have been told PGR wanted to replace the motors with diesels once they took over the Trolley. That is the kind of mentality PGR has (not to mention safety record).
PGR = Progressive Rail, Inc. At the bottom of this "Our Team Members" webpage, under the "Iowa Traction Railroad" headings, it says "Coming Soon!' (and apparently has said the same for several years now): http://www.progressiverail.com/team_members.html
Not a surprise - electric locomotives, by virtue of their many fewer moving parts, simpler controls, and less heat and vibration, etc., inherently last longer than diesels, so perhaps they should have their own category.
UP's steam locomotive 844 would be a candidate - it has never been removed from the active roster - but it was built in 1944, so it's younger than several diesels that are still running !
- Paul North.
I just read in "Railfan and Railroad" the Black River and Western RR in New Jersey has a former Lehigh Valley SW-1 built in 1939 recently restored to service. It won't be used all the time but only occasionally, and will be refinished in its original Lehigh Valley paint scheme. It HAS been refit with roller bearing trucks however.
What about some of those HH600/ 900 units that RELCO has managed to keep running....
The East Troy electric railroad operation in Milwaukee WI is now largely a tourist operation, but from time to time they do haul revenue freight -- not as often as they used to, but from time to time. Their steeple cabs are 70+ years old.
http://www.easttroyrr.org/index.html
Of course if that kind of highly irregular revenue service counts, then the UP's steam locomotives do that duty on a pretty frequent basis during ferry moves.
Dave Nelson
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