NS donates Dash 8-32B locomotive to museum

Press release:

Lake Shore Railway Historical Society wrote:LAKE SHORE RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
North East, PA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

North East, PA. May 15, 2013 —Norfolk Southern Railway has donated to Lake Shore
Railway Historical Society of North East, PA, an Erie-built General Electric diesel-electric
locomotive.

The locomotive, a “Dash 8-32B” model is a 1989 product of Erie’s General Electric
Transportation locomotive assembly plant. It is the first “Dash-8” locomotive anywhere
to be preserved at a museum. The 3,200 horsepower locomotive is one of just 49 ever
built, of which 45 were purchased by Norfolk Southern. The locomotive, Norfolk
Southern #3563, is currently in Roanoke, VA, and is being serviced and prepared for
delivery. Delivery of the locomotive to the Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East is
expected in June.

“We thank Norfolk Southern for the significant gift and for endorsing Lake Shore Railway
Historical Society’s mission to preserve the transportation history of Erie’s General
Electric” said Lake Shore Railway Historical Society President, Ray Grabowski, Jr. “This
is the first GE Dash 8 locomotive to be preserved at a museum anywhere – most are
still in regular railroad service. This gift is an honor and we are proud to be able to share
it with our community and visiting guests from all of North America!”

The non-profit, all volunteer Lake Shore Railway Historical Society has operated the Lake
Shore Railway Museum in North East, PA, since 1970. Four other historic General Electric
locomotives now call the North East museum home. The museum is just 10 miles away
from the Erie/Lawrence Park, PA, General Electric locomotive plant. A “recognition &
homecoming ceremony” will occur at the Lake Shore Railway Museum when the locomotive arrives in North East.

Contact:
LAKE SHORE RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY • 31 Wall Street, North East, Pennsylvania
RAY GRABOWSKI, JR. [email protected]

Just now noticed this. I love how Norfolk Southern recognizes the heritage of all things railroad
related, whether it has directly to do with NS, or locomotive manufacturers like GE. I give them
a whole lot of credit. I would really like to see CSX follow suit, given the rich history of the B&O,
the C&O, Western Maryland, Seaboard, etc.

At any rate, my hat's off to Norfolk Southern.......again!

Charlie

Brief blurb and photo of the 3563 at its new home: http://www.goerie.com/article/20130714/ ... retirement" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Here are some pics on the Lake Shore Railway Historical Museum's Facebook page. You should be able to toggle through since they are listed as public.

I can't imagine saving one of the worst locomotives built! These are slow loading and rough riding. I'd rather have a Chevy from that era, like a GP59 or 60. These are quick loading, and have the proven Blomberg trucks.

Engineer Spike wrote:I can't imagine saving one of the worst locomotives built! These are slow loading and rough riding. I'd rather have a Chevy from that era, like a GP59 or 60. These are quick loading, and have the proven Blomberg trucks.

"preservation worthy" doesnt necessarily have anything to do with running quality..
Most museums (and their patrons) would probably rather have a Baldwin Shark than a GP9
or a "problematic and troublesome" PRR T1 rather than a run of the mill but "well liked by engineers" 2-8-0.

In this case, any Dash-8 is very much preservation worthy IMO..
they were an interesting, and fairly short-lived evolutionary stepping stone between the older U-boats and today's Dash-9's and Evolution series..
and dash-8's will likely end up being very under-represented in preservation..so this is a great choice!
How working railroaders felt about a loco can be relevant..
but it doesn't have to be, and seldom is, the most important factor when it comes to preservation..

Scot

Great to see NS preserving some more modern locomotive types... Apparently the other B32-8Es in the fleet are for sale...

Also, as a side note, I find it interesting that the locomotive moving the unit into the museum (CSX SD40-2 #8052) is 10 years older than the one being preserved...