The GE 44-ton switcher is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between 1940 and 1956. It was designed for industrial and light switching duties, often replacing steam locomotives that had previously been assigned these chores.
This locomotive's specific 44-short ton weight was directly related to one of the efficiencies the new diesel locomotives offered compared to their steam counterparts: reduced labor intensity. In the 1940s, the steam to diesel transition was in its infancy in North America, and railroad unions were trying to protect the locomotive fireman jobs that were redundant with diesel units. One measure taken to this end was the 1937 so-called "90,000 Pound Rule," a stipulation that locomotives weighing 90,000 pounds (41,000kg)– 45 short tons– or more required a fireman in addition to an engineer on common carrier railroads.[2] Industrial and military railroads had no such stipulation. The 44-ton locomotive was designed to abrogate this requirement.[2] Other manufacturers like Davenport and Whitcomb also built 44-ton switchers for this reason.[2]
GE built 276 of this locomotive for U.S. railroads and industrial concerns, four were exported to Australia in 1944, ten were exported to Canada, ten to Cuba, one to the Dominican Republic, five to France, three to India, six to Mexico, five to Saudi Arabia, one to Sweden, two to Trinidad, ten to Uruguay, and fifty-seven were built for the United States Armed Forces. Many remain, in service and in museums.
Prime mover options
The locomotives were available with a choice of prime movers. Most were built with a pair of Caterpillar's D17000 V8 180 horsepower (134kW) engines, but three other engine types were used. Nine were built with a pair of Hercules DFXD engines; two were sold to Chattanooga Traction and seven were sold to Missouri Pacific Railroad and its subsidiaries. Ten were built with a pair of the slightly more powerful Buda 6DH1742, rated at 200 horsepower (150kW) each. The last four locomotives built had Caterpillar D342 engines, of which three were sold to Canadian National Railway and one to the Dansville and Mount Morris Railroad.
Military version
During the Second World War, GE produced a "Drop Cab" variant of the 44-ton locomotives for the US Armed Forces. These appeared similar to the standard 44-ton but had a lower cab for European clearances, and large boxes next to the cab, on the front right, and back left running boards, housing the air compressors (housed under the cab on standard versions). Most of these military variants were ballasted to an actual weight of 45 tons.[3] A total of 91 Military 45-ton Drop Cabs were built with 31 of those sold to the Indian Railways. Additional narrow gauge drop cabs were built to a 47-ton rating for the military and export.
Twelve Drop Cab 45-ton locomotives were bought by the Portuguese Railway (CP - Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses) in 1949, with the Iberian broad gauge of 1,668mm (5ft5+21⁄32in). Numbered 1101 to 1112, after some initial use as light road engines, they spent most of their lives as switchers at the southern region main stations. The series is withdrawn but one example is preserved (No. 1104) at the National Railroad Museum (Fundação Museu Nacional Ferroviário Armando Ginestal Machado) at Entroncamento.
Arcade and Attica Railroad in Arcade, NY shifted all operations to diesel in 1941 with the purchase of 44ton No 110. Six years later a wreck forced them to send the engine back to Erie for repairs. At that time they purchased a second engine (ARA No 111) and scrapped their last remaining backup steam engine. ARA 110 today is a static display while ARA 111 remains operational for freight duties as a backup locomotive, occasionally hauling the railroad's excursion trains (often triple-headed with the railroad's other two GE centercab switchers for their annual WWII weekend, #112 and #113). Freight duties are currently handled in tandem by 65-ton #112 (1945 b/n 27886, U.S. Navy, acquired 1988) and 80-ton #113 (1959 b/n 33489, ConEdison, acquired 2014).[citation needed] The railroad acquired an ALCO RS-3m in 2023 to replace their center cab locomotives.[4]
The Charlotte Southern in Charlotte, MI. operates the last 44 ton GE ever built. Ex-Danville & Mount Morris #1. List in the Diesel Spotters Guide (Kalmbach Publishing).
The New York Ontario & Western Railroad Historical Society, Owns one, NYO&W #105. Currently being Repaired & Restored for Operation by the end of 2018. It is at Steamtown National Historic Site, in Scranton, Pennsylvania.[6][7] This unit was SRNJ #105 Prior to 2017, when the NYO&WHS had acquired it, and it was transported by truck to Scranton.
The North Florida Railway Museum has 44-Tonner #12945 on display in Reynolds Industrial Park located, Green Cove Springs, FL. The locomotive is currently being cosmetically and mechanically restored.
The Media:The Railway Museum of San Angelo in San Angelo, TX displays the GE 44 ton repainted and lettered in Santa Fe Tiger Strips as number 461 was formerly the U.S. Air Force 1241, serial number 31879, formerly based at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. Build date February 1953.[8]
The Toledo, Lake Erie, and Western owns one Whitcomb 44-tonner, #1, Ex-Dundee Cement 951901, and née-Ann Arbor Railroad #1. Currently, it is sitting in its yard in Grand Rapids, Ohio, along with a Baldwin 0-6-0 steam locomotive. Both are currently being restored.
The Tri-State Railway Historical Society owns Hoboken Shore Railroad No. 700. The locomotive was acquired from the Tyburn Railroad in Morrisville, PA, in 2021. It was relocated to Boonton, NJ, in early 2022, where it is stored and operable. The locomotive is awaiting a restoration to its Hoboken Shore colors.
The Walkersville Southern Railroad currently has three 44 tonners; those being Great Northern #51, Former Strasburg/Pennsylvania Railroad 9331, and Former Pennsylvania 9339. Three additional examples are expected to arrive on the property by the fall of 2020. Currently, two are privately owned ex-Pennsylvania Railroad 44-tonners, 9339, acquired from the South Carolina Railroad Museum in 2011 and ex-PRR 44-Tonner 9331, acquired form Strasburg Railroad in 2013.
The Western Railway Museum near Suisun, CA. is the home of Sacramento Northern 146, Visalia Electric 502 and Salt Lake, Garfield and Western (Saltair) DS-2. The 502 is operational. The 146 is now undergoing restoration, Saltair DS-2 is on display and may be restored later.
DE91 which was 7922 with the NSWGR which was sold to Commonwealth Railways is preserved at the National Railway Museum in Port Adelaide, South Australia. It was cosmetically restored in 2014 to the Commonwealth Railways Blue Black livery.
Spain
Hunosa Nº2, which used to work at the Sueros Coal Washing Facility in Mieres, Asturias, is in operational condition at the Asturian Railway Museum in Gijón, Asturias.
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