ARIZONA RAILWAY MUSEUM
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Military bases often had rail service for the movement of supplies and
equipment. This small Plymouth locomotive, built in 1943, served the Army Air
Corps Advanced Flying School in Victorville, California, where bomber pilots
trained during World War II. Later renamed George Air Force Base, it trained
fighter pilots for the Korean War in the 1950s.
The locomotive remained in military service until 1966. It was then sold
as surplus to the civilian market and served various railroad construction
companies until retirement.
In
1988 it was donated to the museum by Railroad Builders of Mira Loma, California,
and for many years served as the museum's primary switching locomotive. In 2005
it was named "George E. Holt" for its long-time caretaker, who died
earlier that year.
The
Plymouth Locomotive Works built this model ML-8, serial number 4463, in 1943 as
part of a group of 24 locomotives for the U.S. War Department, serial numbers
4441 to 4464. It became US Army No. 7595, and was the last one to be delivered
on March 26, 1943. It weighs 62,000 pounds and has 33-inch drivers.
In November 1966 after many years of faithful military service, it was
sold to private contractor M. Lummis & Company of Richmond, California. It was
later owned by Pacific Railroad Contractors of Torrance, California, and finally
by Railroad Builders of Mira Loma, California, who donated it to the museum in
1988.
Unlike many of this type that have been refitted with a diesel engine,
this locomotive still has its original LeRoi model RX1V, 250 hp, V8 gasoline
engine with a displacement of 2008 cubic inches. Power is transmitted to the
wheels via a clutch and 4-speed mechanical transmission, with chain drive to the
axles.
In 1988, Mammoth Trucking employees Ron & John Schofield delivered the locomotive to the museum's Armstrong Park location, where it was cosmetically and functionally restored by museum volunteers. (Ron Schofield was one of the five founders of the Arizona Railway Museum.)
After many years of switching cars around the museum grounds, its integral air compressor failed in April 2011, causing extensive damage to the engine's front gear casing and radiator. The museum purchased two used stationary LeRoi engines that originally powered cotton gins. These engines serve as a source of repair parts. Repairs were begun to return the locomotive to serviceable condition.