Milwaukee Road E79 -- ex PV&T 301 -- sits in Deer Lodge on a summers night
(Photo by Drew Jacksich on Flickr)

After the second world war, the Soviet Union ordered 20 heavy electric locomotives from General Electric, but, before the order could be delivered, the cold war had kicked in and the U.S. Government refused to allow shipment of these engines. So GE sold them to American railroads; 5 to CFP, in Brazil, 3 to the CSS&SB, 10 to the CMStP&P, and 2 to the PV&T. Unfortunately, their long wheelbases did not work well with the PV&T’s Montréal-Portland line, so after a short dozen years they were resold to the CMStP&P, going into service as E78 & E79 for another dozen years before that electrification was shut down.

In 2017, another class D showed up on the system – CSS&SB #801, which had been left on the deadline in Michigan City when the railroad dieselised its freight operations, and which Groupe I&M chose not to scrap when they purchased the railroad from the Venango River Corporation, came along with the railroad when the I&M group was taken over, and then sent up to Saint-Constant to be part of the historical fleet. It, however, was never painted or numbered for the PV&T, but remains in CSS&SB colours to this day.

  • Copyright © 2023 by David Parsons (orc@pell.portland.or.us) unless otherwise noted
    Mon Sep 13 18:31:52 PDT 2021