About 2 years ago, in 2023, we worked up a beginners kit for the Chicago Great Western Doodlebug otherwise known as a Gas Electric because it had a gasoline engine and a generator to power traction motors. The title of this kit is: All Nation Line M-300 Gas Electric “Doodlebug” Kit Basic 57′ Chicago Great Western (minus trucks/details) PN#465AN
The interesting thing about these kind of prototypes to model is the research into the original manufacturing such as drawings and patents. It is very fortunate to also look at the history of companies involved in the development of the equipment supplied to the railroads. One such company that obviously values their heritage is Progressive Rail. On their website, starting back in 1920, is an historic reference to the EMC or Electro-Motive Coporation.
https://www.progressrail.com/en/Company/AboutUs/EMD100/1920s.html
On that page is a valuable drawing of the M-300 showing the elevation and floor plan. It would almost seem like the engine and attached generator is not unlike a backup generator set like Generac for homes but on a slightly larger scale.
The predecessors to the M-300 that EMC sold were the unusual M-200, M-205, M-209 series that could have been the school bus’s ancestor with the long snout known as “snub-nose” front end but most of these descriptions would have been railfan terminology like the term Doodlebug.
EMC also manufactured a small gas electric switcher with a similar front end profile where one was used for light switching and interchange with the Hanover, Illinois branch line known as the Hanover Railway built in 1906. It was a 2.5 mile line servicing the mill in town near the Apple River and interchanged with the CGW main outside of Elizabeth, Illinois. These switchers were referred to as small locomotives or motorcars. Another one of these motorcars may have performed work up in Winona, Minnesota. However, the Hanover switcher may have ended up doing work for the Kettle Moraine Railway in Wisconsin once the Hanover Railway went out of business.
We have a good amount of information on the M-300, but that is not the case for the earlier M-200 series. We know the following: the car bodies where likely built by the St. Louis Car Company, the generators, electrical systems and traction motors were General Electric equipment and the control system was EMC’s proprietary single-lever control based on Hermann Lemp’s design. While there can be confusion between the EMC motorcars and the McKeen motorcars there were many differences in the technology and the lines blur due to rebuilds and repowering the various equipment used by the railroads in this early timeframe from between 1910 to 1935.
As luck would have it, in our collection we have photographic evidence in the form of black and white negatives. These negatives are very telling to the discerning eye of a modeler. In order to pull out the detail, we scanned these on a high resolution to study the motorcars. Then, we colorized them with a black or dark roof, maroon car sides and gold trim without changing the characteristic of the photograph. These are enhanced below:
The switcher front end profile is typical of early EMC used at Hanover, Illinois and is comparable to the larger motorcars above.
There is a good collection of gasoline powered motorcars used by the Hanover Railway on the following website.
https://www.frrandp.com/2021/06/the-hanover-railroad.html
In conclusion, following the history of a company can lead to other modeling adventures such as our EMC collectible.
1935 Electro-motive Corporation (EMC) Switcher, Brass, 600HP All Nation Single Chain Drive Winton 201-A Prime Mover (450kw)PN#579AN
We thought you would enjoy this little side trip into the history about our favorite railroad.
