North Shore Electric Filmed in Color. Little Joe's and much more

The South Shore never called them “Little Joes” , they called the “800’s”

In the late '40s and '50s they were called Little Joes.  Referring to Josef Stalin who was to receive them until President Truman said not only No, but …. No.  John

rattler21 posted:

In the late '40s and '50s they were called Little Joes.  Referring to Josef Stalin who was to receive them until President Truman said not only No, but …. No.  John

Well aware of that. The Milwaukee Road referred to them by that but the South Shore never did 

Spoony81 posted:

rattler21 posted:

In the late '40s and '50s they were called Little Joes.  Referring to Josef Stalin who was to receive them until President Truman said not only No, but …. No.  John

Well aware of that. The Milwaukee Road referred to them by that but the South Shore never did 

That's interesting, what was your job on the South Shore in the early '50s?  John in Lansing, ILL

I used to ride those from Chesterton to Chicago when I was a kid to go visit my grandma.  A bit of information:  The Little Train that Could decal on the passenger cars were designed by Dale Fleming who was a family friend of ours (he lived in Gary, Indiana).

rattler21 posted:

Spoony81 posted:

rattler21 posted:

In the late '40s and '50s they were called Little Joes.  Referring to Josef Stalin who was to receive them until President Truman said not only No, but …. No.  John

Well aware of that. The Milwaukee Road referred to them by that but the South Shore never did 

That's interesting, what was your job on the South Shore in the early '50s?  John in Lansing, ILL

Well I wasn’t born until 30 years later lol. I just know that the South Shore always referred them as 800’s 

From Wikipedia:

In service on the South Shore the "Little Joe" name was not generally used; the locomotives were referred to as "800s".

From the American Rails website:

The South Shore's trio, regarded as "800's" (since they were placed within the 800 Class, numbered #801-803), proved just as skilled.

Rusty

Spoony81

Well I wasn’t born until 30 years later lol. I just know that the South Shore always referred them as 800’s 

 

Very interesting.  Rusty cites Wikipedia - "name was not GENERALLY used".  That could be interpreted as allowing the term Little Joe to be used in the Hegewisch passenger station/Burnham Yard area including the small truck stop/diner on the north side of Brainard just east of Burnham Avenue where many South Shore men took their meals.  John in Lansing, ILL

Here is the only shot I have of one:

What a beast!!!

Marty

Nice video and interesting still shot. 

The picture of the 801 shows it sitting on a drop table. The device was used to change out traction motors. I wonder if the locomotive is being worked on or if it is just parked there...

Tom

Okay, maybe I am being a bit overly anal retentive here, but, why is this called: "North Shore Electric Filmed in Color, Little Joe's and much more." When the film footage is from the South Shore? Just curious. Not trying to be rude.

The 802 and 803 in captivity:

The pic of the 803 was shortly after IRM repainted it and the pans had not yet been reinstalled.

Rusty

Interesting but I'd love to see more of the "Old" South Shore street running in South Bend.   I know the state and the NICTD did their homework when they decided to make the train stop at the Michiana Regional Airport but I have to think that service direct to South Bend would have been the nutz.

Anyone and everyone that loves trains needs to ride the South Shore.   And especially so whilst the two segments of Michigan City street running exist.

Around 1980, I made a trip to Chicago to visit a fellow ATSF San Bernardino Locomotive Engineer who had been promoted to Cost Analyst at 80 East Jackson.  During the visit, I went out with my camera, and, on one of those days, rode the South Shore out to Hammond with the intent of spending a day at State Line Tower and interlocking.

The ride in the old heavyweight South Shore cars was great -- good track, smooth handling, friendly crew, and I was fortunate to witness one of the big GE electric locomotives (whatever they were called ) moving cars around in the small yard.  That was my first and only sighting of a large electric in freight action.  What most impressed me was that the only noise was from the blowers, although the locomotive was certainly not exerting much of its abundant power in moving those short cuts of cars.  Quite unexpected was the long whip radio antenna with spring base, the same type as used on police cars in the 1950's.

Thanks for posting the clips.

In the  'Didn't happen a lot, but it did happen" file, on occasion a South Shore passenger train would have one or two Pullman sleeping cars at the rear.  When a high visibility football team from the west coast would play in South Bend, it was not unusual for some fans to travel from the coast to Chicago via ATSF or SP-CRIP or UP-CNW and have their car interchanged with the C,SS&SB for movement to South Bend.  The car was spotted on a siding, water and electricity was connected and the car was their accommodations until a day or so after the game.  The car(s) was then reverse routed to its west coast terminal.    John in Lansing, ILL

No matter what you call it, #803 is one large locomotive. I took this at IRM on Labor Day, 9/2/2013.

GREENRAIL posted:

Okay, maybe I am being a bit overly anal retentive here, but, why is this called: "North Shore Electric Filmed in Color, Little Joe's and much more." When the film footage is from the South Shore? Just curious. Not trying to be rude.

Sorry, I think I was holding my compass backwards. Don