Interlake Iron No. 11

Equipment History

Built by General Electric (S/N 31517) at Erie, Pennsylvania, in May of 1952. The locomotive is powered by a Cooper-Bessemer FWL-6T engine that is rated at 600 horsepower. The unit was built as the Interlake Iron Corporation (later Interlake Steel Corporation) no. 11, and then later becoming Acme Steel no. 11. The locomotive was donated to our museum by Acme Steel and arrived on January 13, 1995. This locomotive has gone through an extensive rebuild process. It has been restored to its Interlake Steel Corporation lettering.

Looking very similar to the General Electric 70-tonners, no. 11 is actually a 95-ton diesel-electric locomotive - one of only 47 ever constructed. With larger wheels and a thicker deck plate than its lighter cousins, the heavy industrial switcher was a common sight in the steel mills of northwest Indiana. This locomotive is currently operational and is utilized on some of our tourist trains.