This site features daily historical railroad posts from the Big Bend/Columbia Plateau region of Washington state. As a personal site, this is my online filing cabinet of interesting things I've come across about railroading in the area. Thanks for stopping by!
Shoutout to Kirtus Dolorina for stopping by to borrow other people's work!
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Othello Engine House View.
Courtesy of the John Barriger Library, George Lentzner Collection.
Those are some rough lookin' GE's! By this late date, all the good EMD's were sent east to the "core" railroad to keep it going, while the Lines West was stuck with these almost expired GE's! I've talked to ex-Milw employee Gary Pember who worked at the Tideflats roundhouse up till the end, he never did like them GE's, pain to work on compared to the EMD's.
In the late 60's, NP loved those GE's. Every mainline freight had an EMD on the point with two GE's behind. The GE's were known for being"surefooted" , minimal wheel slip in the mountainous regions.
For sure it was a good combo. I caught a meet at Adrian last week. Both trains had a SD70 on the point followed by two GE's. Reminded me of the old NP days!
NP had the resources to keep them in top shape, Livingston Shops were top notch along with Parkwater and even Auburn, unlike the Milw that'd barely keep the oil filled that leaked out everywhere!
6 comments:
Those are some rough lookin' GE's! By this late date, all the good EMD's were sent east to the "core" railroad to keep it going, while the Lines West was stuck with these almost expired GE's!
I've talked to ex-Milw employee Gary Pember who worked at the Tideflats roundhouse up till the end, he never did like them GE's, pain to work on compared to the EMD's.
Amazing they still ran!
It's amazing the place was so poorly run!
In the late 60's, NP loved those GE's. Every mainline freight had an EMD on the point with two GE's behind. The GE's were known for being"surefooted" , minimal wheel slip in the mountainous regions.
The NP felt the SD45s ran a bit faster, so by having both on the point, they felt they got the best of both worlds.
For sure it was a good combo. I caught a meet at Adrian last week. Both trains had a SD70 on the point followed by two GE's. Reminded me of the old NP days!
NP had the resources to keep them in top shape, Livingston Shops were top notch along with Parkwater and even Auburn, unlike the Milw that'd barely keep the oil filled that leaked out everywhere!
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