Wabash Alloys Locomotive

The Wabash Alloys Locomotive is a GE 25-ton diesel-electric locomotive built in 1940–43. Little is known about its early life, but from around 1970, it worked at Wabash Alloys, a producer of aluminum alloys, at Haskell, Arkansas.

Wabash Alloys Locomotive
Type and origin References:[1][2] Power type Diesel Electric Builder General Electric Model 25 ton Build date 1940-43
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-4-0 Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Adhesive weight 25 short tons (23 t) Loco weight 25 short tons (23 t) Fuel type Diesel RPM range 1800 Displacement 672 cubic inches (11 L) Traction motors one, chain drive to second axle Cylinders 6 Cylinder size 4 ^7⁄8 in × 6 in (124 mm × 152 mm)
Performance figures Maximum speed 20 mph (32 km/h) Power output 150 hp (112 kW) Tractive effort 15,000 lbf (67 kN)
Career Last run April, 2018 Current owner Arkansas Railroad Museum Disposition Under Renovation, Partially Operable Wabash Alloys Locomotive U.S. National Register of Historic Places Location 1700 Port Rd., Pine Bluff, Arkansas Coordinates 34°13′45″N 91°59′6″W Area less than one acre Built 1940 Architect General Electric NRHP reference No. 07000444[3] Added to NRHP May 22, 2007

It eventually became surplus to the company's needs and they donated it to the Arkansas Railroad Museum at Pine Bluff, Arkansas on March 8, 2003.[4][5]

The 25-ton model was the smallest locomotive in the GE range in the 1940s and 50s. It was designed for the small industrial user. With 150 hp (112 kW) and 15,000 lbf (67 kN) of tractive effort, it could pull half a dozen loaded cars on the level.[1] Although the Arkansas nomination document asserts that "large Class I railroads would have used them for switching on light branch lines,"[5] standard freight cars of the time were up to 70 tons (64t) gross weight, or 17.5 tons (16t) per axle, so there was little need for 12.5 ton (11t) per axle locomotives on railroads, even on light branch lines,[6] but GE built hundreds of them for industrial users.[2]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

References

1. C.B. Peck (ed.). 1950-52 Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice. New York: Simmons-Boardman. pp. 194, 222.
2. Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach. p. 192.
3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
4. "Wabash Alloys". Arkansas Trains (TrainWeb). Retrieved 8 February 2010.
5. "Wabash Alloys Locomotive, Pine Bluff, Jefferson County". Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. Retrieved 5 February 2010.
6. "GE 23-25T". North East Rails. Retrieved 8 February 2010. Of 60 locomotives pictured here, only seven are owned by railroads and only one of those is even a Class II railroad.