Equipment Information

Wisconsin Electric Power L4 is an electric locomotive built in the railroad’s Cold Spring Shops to haul freight trains on the Wisconsin interurban network. It is a “steeplecab,” with a cab in the center of the locomotive and sloping hoods on each side to provide good visibility in either direction for the engineer. At the end of its service life it was used to switch coal hoppers around the power plant at Port Washington, Wisconsin.

FUN FACT: Most electric locomotives get their power from the overhead trolley wire, via a trolley pole or pantograph, or from a third rail, via third rail shoes. But this locomotive can get its power a different way: from an extension cord! On the sloped hood at one end of the locomotive there’s a large reel with a heavy-duty extension cord about 150 feet long. At the end is a hook, to hook over the trolley wire, and then the locomotive can operate on tracks near – but not directly under – trolley wire using its extension cord.

Builder: TMER&L
Year Built: 1920
Length: 31ft 8in
Width: 9ft 6in
Height: 12ft 10in
Weight: 103470 lbs
Brakes: GE
Motors: 4 GE 207B
Control: M-C74F
Compressor: 2 CP-29A
Trucks: TMER&L M100AB
Description: Double End / Double Truck / Steeple Cab
Arrived: 1991
Condition: Complete / unrestored / not operational

Photo gallery

Ownership History
1920-1938 – The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company
1938-1963 – The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Transport Company
1963-1972 – Wisconsin Electric Power Company
1972-1988 – The Wisconsin Electric Railway Historical Society, East Troy, WI
1988-1991 – Privately owned, East Troy, WI
1991-present – Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL

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