Locomotive Collection

The Little Joe was a type of railroad electric locomotive built by General Electric for export to the Soviet Union (USSR) in the 1950s. The locomotives had twelve axles, eight of them powered, in a 2-D+D-2 arrangement. They were originally designed to operate on Soviet Railways (SZhD) 3,300-volt DC overhead line system.

After the Second World War, the Soviet Railways continued their electrification programme, this time targeting the Kropachyovo-Zlatoust-Chelyabinsk line of the South Ural Railroad. As local factories were recovering from the war efforts, the Soviet government (then led by Joseph Stalin), ordered 20 of these locomotives. Known by their factory classification of GE 2-D+D-2 406/546 8-GE 750-3300V, in the Soviet Union, they would have received the classification of the A-series locomotive. At the time, this was the strongest electric locomotive, producing a power of 4320 kW, being comparable to the UP Big Boy.

The locomotives were built by GE at Erie, PA, with the supervision of Soviet specialists. The Ministry of Railways of the USSR was so confident about receiving these locomotives, that they were also allocated running numbers, initially 1591-1610 and later 2301-2320. The first test run of the locomotive (unit A1598) took place on 7 September 1948 on a test track of the NYCRR.

GE built 20 locomotives of this type, but the company was prohibited from delivering them as relations between the United States and Soviet Union deteriorated into what became known as the Cold War. Fourteen were built to the track gauge of 5 ft (1,524 mm) and the final six were built to 4 ft 8 1/2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge.

The locomotives were never delivered because the US State Department banned sales of strategic goods to the Soviet Union whilst production was underway. This included the electric locomotives, which were considered strategical to the Soviet Railways. Before the ban, the tensions between the USA and USSR caused the Soviet railway engineers to be recalled back to their country. GE completed their locomotives, but they were left with no owner.

[Of the original 20 locomotives,] three had gone to the Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad (the South Shore Line), and five to the Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro of Brazil. The Milwaukee Road bought the remaining 12 locomotives for $1 million. The Milwaukee's operating employees referred to the EF-4/EP-4 units as Little Joe Stalin's locomotives, which was eventually shortened to simply Little Joe.

The South Shore, while primarily a commuter railroad between Chicago, Illinois, and northwestern Indiana, used them in freight service. They had to be modified to operate on 1500 V DC catenary, and were delivered with roller bearings on all axles as on the Milwaukee EP-4s. In service on the South Shore the "Little Joe" name was not generally used; the locomotives were referred to as "800s". Two of the three lasted until 1983, making them the last electrics in regular mainline freight service on a US common-carrier railroad. Two 800s survive today, 802 at the Lake Shore Railroad Museum, and 803 in running condition at the Illinois Railway Museum, and is occasionally operated.

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GE Transportation is a division of Wabtec. It was known as GE Rail and owned by General Electric until sold to Wabtec on February 25, 2019. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad, marine, mining, drilling and energy generation industries. The company was founded in 1907. It is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois while its main manufacturing facility is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. Locomotives are assembled at the Erie plant, while engine manufacturing takes place in Grove City, Pennsylvania. In May 2011, the company announced plans to build a second locomotive factory in Fort Worth, Texas, which opened in January 2013.

GE Transportation is the largest producer of diesel-electric locomotives for both freight and passenger applications in North America, believed to hold up to a 70% market share. It also produces related products, such as railroad signaling equipment, and parts for locomotives and railroad cars, as well as providing repair services for GE and other locomotives.

Current locomotives in major production include the GE Evolution Series; for a complete listing, see the list of GE locomotives. In the spring of 2007, GE Transportation Systems rolled out a prototype hybrid diesel-electric locomotive to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions. In September 2010, GE Transportation announced plans to commercialise a hybrid design by 2014–15.

On July 27, 2017, GE Transportation announced that production of locomotives will move from Erie, Pennsylvania, to Fort Worth, Texas, by the end of 2018.

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