Erie, Pennsylvania

1939 GE Builder's Photo

St. Thomas, 1949

St. Thomas, 1999

     Wabash 51 is a 43 ton locomotive built in 1939 by General Electric of Erie, Pennsylvania.

It has a number of firsts to its credit.  It is the first diesel electric locomotive ever owned by the Wabash Railroad.  It is the first diesel electric to operate in St. Thomas, and it is the first diesel electric to be serviced in the locomotive shop the Elgin County Railway Museum now calls home.

     "Tillie", as railway workers nicknamed it after the cartoon character "Tillie the Toiler", worked the St. Thomas north yard from 1939 until 1961.  It was then sold to the Merrillies Equipment Company of Toronto.  A number of different companies leased the engine until 1967 when it was sold to the Atlas Steel Company of Quebec where it worked steadily until 1994.

     Later that year the Museum was tipped off Wabash 51 still existed and was available.  After a purchase price was negotiated, Tillie was trucked back to St. Thomas where it arrived just before the Museum's annual Railway Heritage Weekend in 1994.

     Since returning, Wabash 51 has been restored to its former glory by museum volunteers.