Kennecott Copper Corp #310

General Electric, created in 1892, entered the locomotive market in the 1910’s, making small switching locomotives and supplying electrical equipment to other locomotive manufacturers. GE briefly partnered with Alco 1940-1953, but began making their own Road Switcher locomotives in 1956. GE sold their locomotive business in 2017 to Wabtec Corp, also known as Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies Corporation.

GE began producing a small 25-ton switcher in 1941. Their small size made them perfect for locations where a single locomotive was needed to move cars around rather than building and moving trains. Approximately 550 were made for five continents between 1941 and 1974.

#310 was purchased new by Kennecott for use at the McGill Smelter facility. It was used to move cars in and out of the buildings and to pull the Treadwell slag car., Additionally, a smaller coupler was installed under the full-size coupler to move small “mill flats” between the buildings, some of which still exist in the East Ely Yard.

The locomotive received its number thanks to the last steam locomotive that worked inside the complex being numbered #309. Interestingly, that small 0-4-0 Porter locomotive still exists, and is stored at the museum pending an overhaul.

At some point in the locomotive’s life, radio control was added for the benefit of the crews moving the hot Treadwell slag car, as the heat made the cab unbearable.

Life at the McGill site was not always easy for the little locomotive. A former employee recalls that, while the large switch engines #801 and #802 were given respect and distance, many would cross in front of the little #310 due to its diminutive size.

Apparently, there was one supervisor that liked to park his company truck next to the tracks, despite the crew’s insistence that this was a bad idea. One day, the crew was running #310 with radio control and hit the supervisor’s truck, damaging it extensively. The crew was eventually cleared of wrongdoing, and in honor of the hit they painted on a little truck on the back of the cab, much like WWII fighters!

On June 15, 1983, operations at the McGill Smelter ended. Once the Nevada Northern Railway museum was started, #310 was quickly brought down from McGill to help the fledgling museum move equipment around. Today, #310 is the designated shop switcher, as it is more economical than firing up one of the big locomotives.