Milwaukee Road engine E-3 left Tacoma in early June, 1949 for Chicago to take part in a Railroad Fair that was scheduled to begin on June 25. The mammoth engine, known as "the world's mightiest electric locomotive" was stationed in Tacoma and pulled passenger trains through Seattle and over the Cascades. She was 67 feet in length, weighed 521,200 pounds and had 24 drive wheels. In the 1920's the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad pioneered the modern application of clean, quiet, electricity to power heavy trains. In 1949 and the 1950's the company purchased new electric locomotives. For electrification, the Milwaukee originally intended to generate their own power, but the railroad decided to purchase commercial alternating current and convert it on their own property to direct current. (TNT, 6/2/1949, p.6; Pacific Northwest Railroads of McGee and Nixon, Richard Green) TPL-9426
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Co. (Tacoma); Railroad companies--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad locomotives--Tacoma--1940-1950; Railroad tracks--Tacoma--1940-1950;