Genesee & Wyoming Locomotive Coming to Lake Shore Railway Museum – UPDATED

UPDATE – The Lake Shore Railway Historical Society has just received a $3000 grant award from the Tom E. Dailey Foundation Inc. of Chicago for the Locomotive Rescue Fund, specifically for moving locomotives to North East. A very big Thank You goes out to the foundation for their generous donation and to everyone involved in making the decision to support our efforts to preserve railway history.

You can help, too!

It’s important to remember that before the museum ever sees a locomotive on the grounds, there is a lot of planning, hard work and no small amount of money involved just getting it here. Then, if it is going to be restored, there’s a lot more hard work to be done and money to be spent. If you would like to help, hit the big Donate button over on the right and contribute what you can. Let’s see if we can match the foundation’s efforts to be sure these workhorses of the rails are here for future generations to appreciate.

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First G&W diesel electric locomotive

The first diesel-electric locomotive owned by the Genesee & Wyoming Railroad, predecessor of current multi-national railroad holding company Genesee & Wyoming, Inc., is acquired by Lake Shore Railway Historical Society.

Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation, a Youngstown, Ohio, 501(c)3 non-profit, has transferred ownership of their GE 80 ton locomotive to Lake Shore Railway Historical Society. The 1944 Erie, PA, built locomotive will be joining Lake Shore’s six other General Electric locomotives at Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East, PA, ten miles from the Erie, PA, General Electric Locomotive Assembly Plant.

This GE 80 ton centercab locomotive was the first diesel-electric locomotive owned by the New York State shortline Genesee & Wyoming Railroad and was given the number 20. Genesee & Wyoming now is a multi-national railroad holding company with 120 railroads, 7,700 employees and more than 2,500 customers.

In 1962, Genesee & Wyoming sold this locomotive to Cleveland, Ohio, construction contractor Hunkin-Conkey. Hunkin-Conkey moved the locomotive from Restof, NY, to Warren, PA, for use with the building of Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River. The locomotive remained stored in Warren after the construction of Kinzua pending the start of a tourist railroad that never materialized. In 1982, a locomotive broker sold the locomotive to a steel mill near Youngstown, Ohio. The locomotive, eventually sold and moved to McDonald Steel and then was gifted to Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation in 2008.