Does anybody recognize these tiny electric locomotives?

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

These little electrics are now parked on a storage track at the Heart of Dixie Railorad Museum (Alabama). They are not listed on their website, and I did not have time to ask a museum employee…

http://www.hodrrm.org/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx

2

I recognize the car behind them as a old Strategic Air Command Missile Control Car, I have heard about those.

A Museum Employee will know about those electrics.

3

I searched with Google and came up with this link. It says two electric locos for shop switching. Might be those two locos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Dixie_Railroad_Museum

Below is a link to the museum. It would seem obvious to email or call.

http://www.hodrrm.org/default.aspx

Rich

4

To me, they look like home made, possible thrown together with parts from various makers. The chassis does look similar to a GE 25 ton boxcab chassis.

5

They’re not listed in the on-line ‘‘Equipemnt Roster’’ for the Museum - though it specifically notes that it is not complete.

My first thought was from a mine - the colors, 1 and 2-‘spot’ numbers, and home-built appearance would be consistent with that. But they’re too tall for almost all underground mines - so maybe from a surface pit mine or quarry ?

Next, I thought ‘‘Shop switchers - OK, but for what ? Maybe a trolley system’s main shops ?’’ But usually 1 would be more than enough, and they usually used a retired car, not a special locomotive for that. Plus, most self-respecting trolley operations and their master mechanics would be aghast to look at those cobbled-together collections of equipment - note that they appear to be stored back-to-back, and there’re not a lot of similarities or symmetry between them.

So I’m inclined to think - no, guess - that they’re from a steel mill or similar heavy industry - perhaps US Steel’s Birmingham mill ? The green color would be typical, and fabricating them would be within the shop capability there. Also, the collection of what appears to be ventilation gear, awning-type shields, etc. would be consistent with protecting the crew in an environment with lots of noxious gases, flying hot pieces, sparks, etc. such as at an open-hearth furnace, coke works, slag dump, etc.

6

The caption to this photo by Joanthan Guy from Dec. 2004 -

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=86802

says that they were then 100 years old, and had worked for Empire Coke in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

I meant to point out before the lack of standard couplers or draft gear - they look more set-up for a ‘link-and-pin’ kind of connections. That would be more consistent with that type of an industrial operation, as opposed to any kind of railroad.

  • Paul North.

EDIT: Apparently the Empire Coke plant closed suddenly in July 2004. See:

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20040701/NEWS/407010321?Title=Empire-Coke-closes

Other mentions found on the Internet indicates that it was the subject of air pollution issues. No mention of the electric locomotives that I could find during a very quick search.

  • PDN.
7

What has me thinking the same is the “I” beam that is about midway up the body of the two. Different critters that’s for sure–

8

Hello Heartland, I worked at Empire Coke Company for about 3 years. These were electric trolley engines used to push railcars loaded with coke from the oven to the quenching shed. The plant opened around 1910 or so and the patent plates had their latest dates as around that same period. The reason they look kind of homebuilt is that the windows that would have faced onto the coke oven and the carloads of hot coke were covered with sheet metal.

I think the patent plates showed these were made either by GE or Westinghouse, but it has been close to 20 years since I looked at them. The operator controls were very simple, most likely the same as a regular trolley car.

9

Very similar little electric locomotives were used at the Solvay Coke Company in Milwaukee WI. I can recall seeing them move about as a kid but by the time I was old enough to really check them out, they were lo longer running (and were parked too far from the street for photos) and eventually were removed. Fortunately Don Ross has photos and information on his incredible website

http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr058.htm

Here is the general link to the Don Ross site

http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/

Dave Nelson

10

Nice to have a reply from “sweethome” in the know.

I had gone through this same inquiry last fall after photographing these units. A little Google time for Empire Coke, Tuscaloosa and it’s parent company McWane, Inc. brought information on the owners, but not a great deal on the particulars of the units.

Bill

11

See this locomotive page at N Scale eBay Store – Plaza Japan. These industrial locos look like the “DeKi 3” German-built by AEG in 1922; then purchased by Japanese Choshi Railway in 1941, and; still in service.

These traction-units were also small enough for “copycat scratchbuilds” in that era.