The Valley Railroad (also known as the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat) in Connecticut has acquired two 80-ton General Electric locomotives from the U.S Navy. These two locomotives previously worked at the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach in Seal Beach, California moving weapons around the base. The locomotives, numbered USN 65-00618 and 65-00359 have not been used since 2008.
On March 17th, the locomotives were removed from their trucks and placed on flatbed trucks to be moved across the country. They arrived and were unloaded at the Valley Railroad on March 23rd. Photos of the unloading can be found on Thomas Nanos’ Facebook post. According to a post on RYPN, these locomotives were acquired due to their good condition (having been rebuilt in the 1980s), and their light axle loading.
The 80-ton switchers join the a roster of 5 other 80-ton centercab locomotives, 3 of which are operational. These diesel locomotives join three steam engines and almost two dozen passengers used in excursion trains on the railroad.
Image from the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach Facebook page.
Learn more
Valley Railroad website
Navel Weapons Station Seal Beach Facebook post on departure
Thomas Nanos Facebook post on arrival
RYPN post about acquisition