On November 30th, the Niagara Railway Museum Inc. moved its newest acquisition, a 1948 GE 25 ton diesel from the former BF Goodrich plant in Thorold to our site at the CNR diesel shop in Fort Erie. The locomotive is in operating condition and was driven onto and off of the float. It will come in very handy at the shop and was the first locomotive to fire up and move inside the shop since the late 1980's. The entire story, with pics and the video link can be found at http://www.nfrm.ca/blog

Certainly nice to hear about...and big enough to move some cars. Congrats.

That's cute enough to be in a Thomas cartoon. Congratulations, she'll really look cute with a fresh coat of paint.

I spent the better part of a year operating a similar GE 25 tonner at Denver Railway Services. This was at the former General Iron Works site, now the home of RTD's Elati Light Rail Maintenance facility.
It was a hoot.

Ira Schreiber

Congrats on the acquisition! You will certainly learn to love that little booger!

I'm lucky enough to operate former Duke Power 5951 at the NCTM - a sister to this one that gained some fame at the Streamliners event a few years ago, as I am sure some of y'all know. On more than one occasion my mind's been boggled at just how much it will pull, and I am sure you folks will have that experience as well.

Its been a while since I've been in the seat, and she has a helluva lotta pick up for a such a small unit. It just wants to GO!! Need to get the bell working again, the air line is broken. But I absolutely LOVE the whistle!! It's a, ummmm, hoot... I didn't go out to the shop today, but I am heading out tomorrow. Now that we have it, I just want to get to know it better.

"No museum is complete without a 25 ton GE."

Congrats from fellow museum/25 ton owner PTM, Washington, PA

BTW, what is the contraption around the exhaust stack?

David. I believe it is an air filter system. Obviously a bit of a modification. I hooked the bell back up today, just had to replace the air line. I am however having a bit of an issue. It keeps wanting to load as soon as you put it into forward or reverse. when ya knock the brake off it starts moving. And I haven't even touched the throttle yet. When I pull the throttle out, it picks up so fast the wheels start spinning. I need to keep some brake on to control the wheel spin. Seems to me that's NOT a normal thing. Anyone with any thoughts on that??

Today I decided to pull our Plymouth MDT40t outside and get a pic with the 2 of them together.

Yes sir Ken, the throttle reaction of your GE is not normal! The way PTM's similar GE is set up releasing the brakes with the throttle just open enough to pick up the motoring contactor will cause the loco to just barely creep on level track. At that point the engine speed is still at idle. If yours is moving with the throttle still in the idle notch (locked there until the button on the lever is pushed) then you may also have a wiring issue. Sounds to me like there's been some tinkering done by those not necessarily knowledgeable in the control system. You may want to start by tracing out the wiring against a GE schematic.

I would take a look at the throttle switch. There should be a switch on the throttle that closes and pulls in a contactor or exciter relay when the throttle is opened. If that switch is either stuck closed (making contact) or has been bypassed, you will get power as soon as the reverser is shifted into FO or RE. I don't have a wiring diagram, but they are all about the same in that area.

With the throttle at ldle, NOTHING SHOULD HAPPEN when you shift the reverser into forward or reverse. That alone points at the stuck throttle switch mentioned, or other possible glitches. In an event, DO NOT allow current to flow in the traction motor when the loco is standing still. This will cook commutator segments in short order, and the fix will be very expensive.

Your symptoms also suggest that engine rpm is set way too high. It should be nearly impossible to spin the wheels of this loco on dry rail.

Does your 25 tonner come with one of these?
Found this at a railroad museume in there little switcher.

Hmm, no, it didn't come with the big ass wind up key!! at some point they changed the original brake to a 24 with train air and put the new stand right beside the old one. There is an access door, about 6" wide that I can no longer access. If the switch is right at the top of the control arm, we'll have to get it through the top. The electrical cabinet is easily accessible, but that's about it. Hoping my mechanic will be looking at it on Saturday so we can figure things out. Other than that, it's a great little unit.

I would second the motion on the stuck switch.

On ours, when you crack the throttle open, you can hear a relay click after pulling the throttle open maybe a quarter inch or so. Are you hearing that, or no? If not, that could be a starting point for narrowing things down.

I know this is for a 45 Tonner, but the control system sounds similar...

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