Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe Railway No. 2350
Alco
S-2 Switcher built 1945
No. 2350 was one of 70 model
S-2 diesel
switchers built by Alco-GE for Santa Fe between 1942 and 1949.
No.
2350 was built in 1945.
| No. 2350 was donated to the Gulf Coast Railroad Museum
in 1999 by General
Electric International, Inc. The locomotive had been used by GE
at
its Houston heavy equipment repair facility, but became surplus when
most
rail-related work was moved from the Houston plant to north Texas.
Preliminary research indicates No. 2350 worked primarily
in California
after delivery to ATSF by Alco-GE. The unit transferred to
Amarillo,
Texas, in the early 1970s. Santa Fe retired the locomotive in
1977.
The 1,000 hp locomotive's trail from Amarillo to the GE facility in
Houston
is not yet known. The locomotive retained its ATSF number while
in
service with GE.
In the photo below, Gulf Coast Railroad Museum
volunteers inspect the
locomotive in preparation for its move to the museum. The
locomotive
moved to the museum on its own wheels, thanks to the efforts of museum
volunteers and the assistance of General Electric and Union Pacific
Railroad.
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aaaaa
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It takes volunteers with big wrenches to get a
locomotive ready
to move on the mainline.
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Below: Ron Matthews caught No. 2350 being moved into the Museum grounds.
In early June 2002, museum volunteers put No. 2350
back in
running order. Above, Museum Director Britt Bettell checks the
gauges,
while below Herman McCoy serves as brakeman on the first load test.
No. 2350 is shown above at Los Angeles on Jan. 19, 1968. Photo
from the Don Ross Collection.
Here is a late in life view of No. 2350. The photographer
comments, "A walk across the Mt. Vernon Avenue viaduct back in late '77
afforded this vista of retired S2s. It was like watching a piece of my
childhood vanish." Photo © 2006 by Lowell Amrine.
No. 2350 eventually will be
restored to one of its
Santa Fe
paint schemes, perhaps as modeled in the photo below by sister Alco No.
2326. We need photos of No. 2350 in service on the
ATSF. If
you can help, email Tom Marsh.
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