GE 44-ton switcher

The GE 44-ton switcher is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive that General Electric built between 1940 and 1956 for industrial and light switching duties, often replacing steam locomotives. Its 44-short-ton weight was chosen to stay under the 1937 rule that locomotives of 90,000 pounds or more needed a fireman as well as an engineer on common carrier railroads, a rule that did not apply to industrial and military lines. GE built 276 for United States railroads and industrial users, 57 for the United States Armed Forces and others for export. Most had a pair of Caterpillar D17000 V8 engines of 180 horsepower. A Drop Cab variant was made for the armed forces in the Second World War.