Milwauke X3800

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montanan

montanan

Whiskey Merchant
Here's an interesting little locomotive. It was used in the Milwaukee shops in Deer Lodge, MT. It actually ran off of an extension cord from the shops. Occassionally the cord did get run over. Yes, an Alco truck too.
 
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There is another one of those sitting down by where the tracks used to be in Harlo. I can't remeber the number. I have a picture of it on another computer six miles away from me right now or I'd post it.
 


The loco at Harlo is numbered X3800. I'm on my laptop and don't have a picture either, but it looks like Montanans with a little more rust.
 
So it is the same one? Well, its been in Harlo for at least 20 years that I know of. The picture of it in Deer Lodge must be an old one and I see that picture in books and on the net and always say that I've seen one just like it in Harlo but could never remember the number and thought it was a sister unit.
 
There could be a sister in Harlow. After finding this picture, I got a hold of an uncle who worked for the Milwaukee Road in Deer Lodge, and he said that they used this to move the large electric road engines in and out of the roundhouse because there were no overhead wire in the turntable or in the roundhouse. I thought I had seen one of these years ago when I was home on leave from the service, but more or less forgot about it. It's a shame that so many of the people who worked on our railroads are getting old and now dying off. My uncle is well into his 90's but still in good health, but many of his old railroad friends has passed away. I imagine that they could have another in Harlowtown, because as I remember, they also had no overhead at their roundhouse either.
 
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I seem to recall once reading there were 2 of these units, but have never been able to find any reference to the number of the second unit, or any photos. Since these were "one offs". chances are they wouldn't have been identical. Having said that, the one in Harlow matches the one in the pictures, so I'd say it is the same unit.
 
It was a long time ago, and I was just a kid, but I don't think Harlowtown had any overhead for the electrics to traverse into the roundhouse either. Below is a picture of either the same, or a similar locomotice. They would have had to have something to get the big electrics to the roundhouse for service too. They could have either built another for use there, or this could be the same unit from Deer Lodge. Your guess is as good as mine. I'll try to ask my uncle if he know anything about this. Here are some pictures of the old roundhouse, and I see no evidence of Catenary at all on the turntable or in the roundhouse. The only difference between the X3800 pictures I can see is that the picture from Harlowtown shows that it is missing the bell.
 

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It's the same unit. No railroad is going to use the same number for two different pieces of equipment, in service at the same time. I was just thinking out loud. I was just wondering how and when it went from Deer Lodge to Harlo. Somebody made a choice to not park it next to the Little Joe at Deer Lodge but move it to Harlo and park it all by itself well away from the boxcab that is in the middle of Harlo. Was it moved by rail before the rail was pulled up or was it moved by truck after the rail was pulled up. Somebody knows, I don't.
 
bradyracing said:
It's the same unit. No railroad is going to use the same number for two different pieces of equipment, in service at the same time. I was just thinking out loud. I was just wondering how and when it went from Deer Lodge to Harlo. Somebody made a choice to not park it next to the Little Joe at Deer Lodge but move it to Harlo and park it all by itself well away from the boxcab that is in the middle of Harlo. Was it moved by rail before the rail was pulled up or was it moved by truck after the rail was pulled up. Somebody knows, I don't.
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I agree with you on a railroad not using the same number twice. A unique as this locomotive, it is probably the very same unit. I actually came across a video showing this locomotive moving a box cab on a turntable. A lot of grunt for a little guy.
 


There was only one of these units- it was the X3800, it was the shop switcher at Deer Lodge. It was operated by an extension cord to power it- its only job was to move engines in and out of the shops at Deer Lodge. The locomotive was acquired by the historical society that also restored the depot at Harlowton, as I recall it was brought in via truck from another location, I don't recall the exact year.
 
In my "Under Milwaukee Wires" book, there is a picture of the X3800 in black paint. The caption reads " it will eventually be painted in UP yellow and will end up on display in Three Forks". It wasn't there in '89 when I lived there. All that was there was the old freight depot.
 
It was painted yellow, and operated in that color. It is presently sitting by the old Milwaukee depot in Harlowtown. In the last group of pictures with the balck and white photos, it is pictures by the signal.
 
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