This General Electric 30” gauge, 6-ton electric storage battery locomotive was built in 1921 for the Hudson Coal Company and put into use at its Powderly Colliery in Carbondale. It has a model code of LSB2C6C2 (L=Locomotive, SB=Storage Battery, 2C=Two Traction Motors, 6=6-Ton, C2=Styling/Design Specifications). It would later be put on display as advertising at Dreater Coal Co. in Mayfield. At some point the GE was moved to Big Bear Farm and added to their collection of rail and mining equipment. The locomotive was put up for sale in December of 2011 and we decided we needed to purchase the locomotive to save it from scrap!
When the GE was brought to us on the truck one wheel set was locked up. We put it in storage, focusing on other pieces of equipment. UGM has recently decided to give this locomotive a full restoration and bring it back to running condition! Several pieces are missing and will need to be fabricated. Work has begun on the locomotive by removing the journals from the traction motors allowing us to free up the stuck axle and more recently, the traction motors have been removed, resistor bank removed, brake rigging removed and the battery boxes remounted on the locomotive. Work will proceed on cleaning up the motors and polishing the commutator, and rebuilding the brush holders. The bearings in the motors are in fine shape and the rotating assembly spins freely in each motor. Once the work to the brush blocks is completed the motors will be tested and hopefully found operational! While the main components are removed and being rebuilt or serviced, we have determined to give it a cosmetic restoration so it looks good resting in our shop!
