Little Joe (electric locomotive)

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A Little Joe preserved at Illinois Railway Museum.

A Little Joe on the Milwaukee Road in Montana.

The Little Joe was a type of railroad electric locomotive built by General Electric for export to the Soviet Union (USSR) in 1946. The 20 locomotives of this type, although they were built for export, were diverted to United States and Brazilian railroads as relations between the US and USSR deteriorated into what became known as the Cold War. Railroaders referred to them as Little Joe Stalin's locomotives which was eventually shortened to simply Little Joe. Twelve locomotives went to the Milwaukee Road, three to the Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad (the South Shore), and the remaining five to Brazil's Paulista Railway. Fourteen were built to the Soviet broad gauge of 5 ft (152 cm), and the final six were built to standard gauge. The Little Joes had twelve axles, eight of them powered, in a 2-D+D-2 arrangement. They were designed to operated on SZD (Soviet Railways)' 3300V DC catenary.

The Milwaukee Road used two for passenger service, designated EP-4, and the remaining ten for freight, designated EF-4. They were used on the railroad's electrified division in Montana and Idaho to take the place of older boxcab electrics that had been operating there since the 1920s. Three were received already built to standard gauge, while the rest were converted to standard gauge in the Milwaukee's shops. They lasted until the end of electric operation on the Milwaukee in 1974.

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 1500V DC catenary. 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. Today, freight trains are pulled by diesel-electric locomotives.

The Companhia Paulista converted its Little Joes to its 5'3"/1.6m gauge. They became known as "Russas". When the Paulista became part of FEPASA in 1971, the Russas came with it. They continued to operate until 1999, becoming the last representatives of their class in revenue service. It was at this point that FEPASA was privatized, and electric operation was immediately ended.

[edit] Original Buyers

Owner	Quantity
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad	12
Chicago, South Shore and South Bend Railroad	3
Paulista Railway	5

[edit] Survivors

South Shore #803 is preserved in operating condition at the Illinois Railway Museum (IRM), where it is occasionally run. South Shore #802 is preserved and on public display at the Lake Shore Railway Historical Museum in North East, PA, 10 miles from the Erie, PA, GE Locomotive Assembly Plant that constructed the Little Joes. Milwaukee #E70 is on static display at Deer Lodge, Montana. There are reports that the Brazilian locomotives may be stored unserviceable.