Tag: General Electric

Expanding data collection to include other modes

October 31, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I think the Census Bureau should start collecting “journey to work” data on trips made by electric or gas-powered standing scooters as well as Segways. And that we need to start organizing vehicle crashes by this category.

Saw this electric scooter locked up outside the Active Transportation Alliance headquarters a couple weeks ago, 9 W Hubbard Street. 

Alderman Laurino should start work on “leveling the playing field” between texting while driving with texting while biking to include a ban on texting while Segwaying. Seen at 2030 S Archer. 

The Joseph Stalin locomotive

December 11, 2009 / / 21 Comments

Last night in my final class of Transportation Management my teacher pointed out the wallpaper photo on the computer we used to give slideshow presentations. The train is notable because of its nickname, “Little Joe.”

The amazing Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois, has a Little Joe the Chicago, South Shore & South Bend converted to Standard Gauge (4 feet, 8.5 inches). The unit is operational.

Long story short: General Electric (GE) built twenty electric locomotives to fulfill an order the Soviet Union made in 1946. The Cold War “happened” and GE couldn’t ship them out. The engines were built for a 5-foot gauge track. Two American railroads (Milwaukee Road and South Shore) and a Brasilian railroad bought up the stock.

Little Joe is named after Joseph Stalin, Generalissimo of the Soviet Union at the time.

The Wikipedia entry on the Little Joe locomotive doesn’t mention the relationship, but High Iron Illustrations, an aviation and railfan art store, confirms my teacher’s story. The Illinois Railway Museum has more on its history, after the jump. Continue reading