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FTLComm - Tisdale - January 6, 1999

Although this machine has been here since September today was the first time I saw it and it immediately sparked my interest. With room to spot over fifty hopper grain cars on the Louis Dreyfus siding there was a need to be able to shuffle the cars around while loading them. At each of the other terminals elaborate cable systems and winches have been set up to move the cars around but at each of the Louis Dreyfus terminals a locomotive like this one was purchases and fitted with its own garage to service the facility. Costing $50,000, this 1971 General Motors diesel electric switch engine was obtained from Canadian Pacific and with it came some training and continued maintenance. When you consider what sort of farm tractor $50,000 would purchase this unit looks pretty much like a bargain. (see our earlier article on Locomotives)