Nostalgia & History > Milwaukee Baldwin RS-12 No. 927

My records show I took this at Minneapolis Depot in December, 1965.
*Correction:  This photo is by Rick Burn, previously posted by Marty Bernard.  My apologies for the filing error.

Milwaukee had two of these rare birds, which they regarded as S-12 yard switdhers with steam generators, and they spent nearly their entire lives doing passenger switching in Minneapolis.  Note the trucks!

-John Stein aka Larry Doyle



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/19 09:47 by LarryDoyle.

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Half their roster in one photo - great catch.
Bob

LOL!!

Though they LOOKED alike, Baldwin made a major construction change between building the 926 (originally 970) and 927 (originally 971).  Anyone care to guess?

-LD

Did one of them have a cast frame, and the other a fabricated one ?   I'd have to dig out my books.   Not sure if those trucks look right. 

Craig Hanson
Vay, Idaho

hawkinsun Wrote:
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> Did one of them have a cast frame, and the other a
> fabricated one ?   I'd have to dig out my
> books.   Not sure if those trucks look right. 
>
> Craig Hanson
> Vay, Idaho


Correct! 926 had a cast frame, 927 welded.

And, yes, the trucks are off the beaten path for a road switcher. But, as stated, Milwaukee considered them to be S-12 switchers with a steam generator so had them fitted with 8 foot wheelbase single hung switcher trucks instead of 9 ft 10 in wheelbase double hung road trucks.

-LD

It's also interesting how some diesel switchers of this era, had hand rails like a steam locomotive and no lower hand rails along the walkway.  I suppose OSHA changed that.   Do you know if these units arrived on the Milwaukee Road with the Orange and Grey paint scheme with the red dividing stripe ?   They also rostered some AS 616 A + B units that came in the early orange and grey scheme, which got repainted to the orange and black.

Craig Hanson
Vay, Idaho

Santa Fe SSB-1200's rebuilt in the 1970s had these types of handrails too. I worked on these and they were fine. I always kept one hand on the handrails as I walked down them when we were moving in the yard.

Steve Sloan

Any idea what appears to be a blue-gray passenger car on the right side of the photo is?

Gotta love what MILW did with locomotives - Alco RS2s and 3s with switcher trucks, etc.  I think they even converted some four-axle Alcos to six-axle (or was it the other way around?).

ssloansjca Wrote:
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> Santa Fe SSB-1200's rebuilt in the 1970s had these
> types of handrails too. I worked on these and they
> were fine. I always kept one hand on the handrails
> as I walked down them when we were moving in the
> yard.
>
> Steve Sloan
Ex-Santa Fe switchers used by Amtrak still had handrails like that in the 1990s. Officially, we were told not to go out on the walkways while the engine was moving.