Engine #903 was leased from the Chicago & North Western and still wears the C&NW's green-and-yellow paint scheme.
The Chicago & North Western owned four Alco RS-27 locomotives #900-#903, near clones of GBW's #310. According to the Official Locomotive List put out each January by the chief clerk of the CN&W Motive Power Department, 900-903 were retired from the C&NW on December 30, 1966. They may well have been out of service long before then, maybe even off the property. The C&NW was unhappy with the reliability of the locomotives and returned them to Alco, which then leased two of the units to the GB&W, including #903. The Norwood shop crew was familiar with the idiosyncrasies of Alco locomotives and put the two engines in serviceable condition. They were used in freight service, usually train no. 7-8 from Green Bay to Wisconsin Rapids, returning on the following day. Eventually the two locomotives were purchased by the GB&W and became the first units to carry the all-red paint scheme. This photo was taken on February 10, 1968 at Norwood Yard in Green Bay. #903 still has the familiar C&NW yellow-and-green paint job. A GREEN BAY ROUTE boxcar herald was applied to the cab sides. Locomotive #903 was eventually painted in the GBW all-red scheme and renumbered to #316. Sister locomotive #902 got a similar paint scheme and was renumbered #317. As a Green Bay Packers fan, I find the green & yellow paint scheme on this locomotive rather attractive!!! If you're a Green Bay & Western modeler and looking for a unique engine for your layout, this is it: check out Charles Tomashek's model of #902, a sister locomotive which also had the same unique paint scheme. Thanks goes to Mike Polsgrove for providing research on this unique Green Bay Route loco. |
Photo, February 10, 1968.
From the collection of Mark Mathu.
