GE's 100 / 110-ton Center Cabs |
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Oregon Pacific & Eastern at Cottage Grove, Oregon on 28 June 1972 (Jim Herold photo **) |
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| The first of General electric's 100/110-ton diesel-electric center
cab models appeared in the fall of 1940. The large center cab locomotive was a non-catalog
item and custom-ordered by Monogahela Connecting; the railroad had been among a number of
manufacturers seeking a switch engine capable of handling a wide-range of heavy-duty industrial
chores. The loco was later sold to Oregon Pacific & Eastern (#11) and again to US Steel
(#2606).
A dozen years passed before GE built the next iteration of the 100/110-tonner; it was very similar in appearance to GE's 80-ton model being produced in 1946, but a few inches longer. Production of the 110-ton version began in 1963. In addition to Ford's heavy-weight center cabs, GE constructed seven 115/126-ton center cabs for the Monongahela Connecting RR between 1937 and 1941. A final batch of 100/128-tonners were built by the Erie locomotive builder prior to the close of WWII; one went to Bingham & Garfield (Kennecot Copper), one worked for National Supply and the remaining two joined the MCRR fleet. The styling on all of these custom-built locos was conventional in appearance, sans streamlining. The mid-1960s saw GE produce two additional 125-ton center cabs for Georgia Power Company. They loosely resembled a pair of 70-tonners that had been spliced back to back on a single frame. |
