Milwaukee Road “Little Joes” (EF-4 / EP-4): History, Specs & Roster

Last revised: September 1, 2026

The Milwaukee Road’s Little Joes were the last electric locomotives the railroad bought, and they headed the last trains under wire. They were not designed in Milwaukee. General Electric built twenty 2-D+D-2 motors at Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1948–49 for Soviet Railways 3,300-volt DC. The State Department blocked delivery. Milwaukee took the twelve that were still unsold, classed ten as freight EF-4 (E70–E79) and two as passenger EP-4 (E20 and E21), and put them on the Rocky Mountain Division between Harlowton, Montana, and Avery, Idaho. Shopmen called them Little Joseph Stalin’s locomotives, then Little Joes. They ran from 1950 until the electrification died on June 15, 1974. One survives: E70, on the courthouse lawn at Deer Lodge, Montana, in Olympian Hiawatha paint. The other eleven were scrapped.

The South Shore’s three sisters from the same GE order are a different railroad and a different voltage. That story is on the CSS&SB 800s page.

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-76 and E-71 lineup Deer Lodge Montana September 1972

A lineup of Little Joes at the yard in Deer Lodge, Montana, September 1972. Closest to the photographer are E-76 and E-71. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection.

On this page: At a glance · The Soviet order · How Milwaukee got twelve · The name · Specifications · EF-4 and EP-4 · Rocky Mountain Division · Passenger years · Freight, MU, and E78 · June 15, 1974 · Roster · South Shore and Brazil · E70 at Deer Lodge

At a Glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (Milwaukee Road)
Classes	EF-4 (freight, E70–E79); EP-4 (passenger, E20 and E21), reclassed EF-4 in 1956. Numbers kept
Builder / plant	General Electric, Erie, Pa.
GE model	2-D+D-2 406/546 8-GE 750-3300V
Order	20 locomotives, serials 29913–29932, ordered 1946 for Soviet Railways. Completed 1948–49. Not delivered
Milwaukee quantity	12 (the last unsold). South Shore 3, Paulista 5
Wheel arrangement	2-D+D-2 (AAR); (2′D)+(D2′) UIC
Wire	3,000 V DC as designed; Milwaukee later raised some substations toward 3,300–3,400 V to feed the class
Territory	Rocky Mountain Division only: Harlowton, Mont.–Avery, Idaho. Never assigned to Coast Division revenue; those substations were not upgraded
In service	1950–June 15, 1974
Nickname	Little Joes, from “Little Joseph Stalin’s locomotives”
Survivor	E70, static, Powell County Courthouse grounds, Deer Lodge, Mont. Donated 1975. Interior gutted; motors and gearing removed

Twenty locomotives for a customer who never took them

After the war the Soviet Ministry of Railways wanted heavy 3,300-volt DC motors for the South Urals electrification around Kropachyovo–Zlatoust–Chelyabinsk. GE at Erie took the order in 1946: twenty locomotives, factory class 2-D+D-2 406/546 8-GE 750-3300V, serials 29913–29932. In Soviet service they would have been the A-series—Amerikanskiy elektrovoz—first numbered 1591–1610, later restated as 2301–2320. Fourteen were laid down to 5-foot gauge. The last six were built standard gauge. Soviet engineers supervised the work. The first test, unit A1598, ran September 7, 1948, on a New York Central test track. Two locomotives were damaged in a plant collision (serials 29923 and 29924).

The State Department then barred strategic goods for the Soviet Union. The engineers went home. GE finished the order and sat on twenty unsold 2-D+D-2s. Controls were still labelled in Russian.

Wylie’s million dollars, Kiley’s no, then twelve with no spares

In The Milwaukee Electrics, Noel Holley records the deal Laurence Wylie tried to make in 1949. Wylie had run the Electrification Department since 1948. GE would sell all twenty locomotives plus the spare parts on hand for about scrap value—$1 million. Operating vice president J.P. Kiley, a diesel man with little time for wire, would not release the money. Unit 29927 was tested on Milwaukee rails on December 24, 1948, and showed wheelslip and other faults. A GE demonstrator, later Milwaukee E70, also appeared on the Coast at Renton, Washington, in 1949. That was a test, not an assignment. The Coast Division substations were never rebuilt for the class, and no Joe worked Coast revenue.

Korean War traffic and a coal strike that sent Lines East diesels home changed the board’s mind. Milwaukee went back to Erie. Eight locomotives and every spare part were already gone. Three had gone to the Chicago, South Shore & South Bend as 801–803. Five had gone to Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro in Brazil. Milwaukee bought the remaining twelve in 1950, still for $1 million, as-is. Three arrived already standard gauge. The rest were re-gauged in Milwaukee shops. Modifications—ballast for adhesion, higher pan reach, passenger steam on two units, later diesel MU—were Milwaukee’s work, not a second GE order.

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-75 and E-74 GP9 westbound Garrison Montana November 1964 Tom Gildersleeve

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-75 and E-74, with a GP9, lead a westbound freight through rural Garrison, Montana, November 1964. Tom Gildersleeve photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Why “Little Joe”

Operating employees called them Little Joseph Stalin’s locomotives, then shortened it. Stalin was the customer on the builder’s paperwork. The name stuck on the Milwaukee and nowhere else. South Shore crews said 800s. Paulista and later FEPASA said Russas. Do not write Little Joe onto those railroads as the house nickname.

Specifications

Mechanical dimensions are the GE 2-D+D-2. Horsepower and tractive-effort sheets do not all quote the same number; the table keeps the split. Weight is the main trap on the old copy of this page. GE, IRM (for South Shore 803), and the High Iron builder-style sheet list 545,600 lb total and 406,000 lb adhesive. Milwaukee added ballast after the 1948 test showed wheelslip. This site’s long-standing Milwaukee table used 586,600 lb total and 443,000 lb on drivers—in-service figures after that extra weight, not the as-built card. HAER’s Deer Lodge note called them 275-ton motors (545,600 lb is 272.8 short tons). Present both. Do not pick one and bury the other.

Specification	Value
Builder	General Electric, Erie, Pa.
Years built	Order 1946; production July 1948–February 1949 (Milwaukee units in that span)
Factory model	2-D+D-2 406/546 8-GE 750-3300V
Wheel arrangement	2-D+D-2 (AAR); (2′D)+(D2′) UIC; 4-8-0+0-8-4 OE Whyte. Two four-axle motorized groups, unpowered two-axle guiding truck at each end
Traction motors	Eight GE 750
Electrical system	3,000 V DC (design 3,000–3,300 V). Milwaukee later fed some substations up to about 3,400 V
Current collection	Two pantographs
Horsepower (1-hour)	5,530 (Holley / this site’s long-standing sheet). Some roundings 5,525
Horsepower (continuous)	5,110
Starting tractive effort	110,000 lbf (Holley). Builder-style sheets often 75,700 lbf. At 25% adhesion, Milwaukee sheet 110,750 lbf
Continuous tractive effort	77,000 lbf
1-hour tractive effort	85,500 lbf (Milwaukee sheet)
Safe / maximum speed	68 mph safe (GE). Milwaukee sheets also list 84 mph maximum
Gear ratio	21:80. EP-4s received passenger gearing as modified
Driver diameter	47¼ inches
Length	88 ft 10 in
Width	10 ft 7 in
Height	14 ft 5 in (pans and Milwaukee pan-height changes excepted)
Total wheelbase	77 ft 10 in
Rigid wheelbase	20 ft 7 in
Weight as built	545,600 lb; adhesive 406,000 lb
Weight in Milwaukee service	586,600 lb; 443,000 lb on drivers (this site’s long-standing Milwaukee table, after ballast)
Air brake	8-EL
Bearings as delivered (Milwaukee)	EP-4 (E20, E21): rollers on all axles. EF-4: rollers on unpowered guiding trucks only; motorized axles plain-bearing until shops substituted rollers after hotboxes and wrecks

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-76 and E-78 Deer Lodge May 9 1962 Bipolar E-5

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-76 and E-78 layover at the engine terminal in Deer Lodge, Montana, May 9, 1962. Bipolar E-5 is in the background. American-Rails.com collection.

EF-4 freight, EP-4 passenger

Milwaukee classed the twelve as its fourth electric freight and fourth electric passenger designs. Ten were EF-4, numbered E70–E79, both cabs live, freight gearing. Two were EP-4, E20 and E21, modified before they entered service: driving controls and windows came off the “B” end so improved main circuit breakers could sit in a cooler space, and Milwaukee Shops put a steam generator where that cab had been. Losing one cab did not matter. Milwaukee already turned electrics at Avery, Deer Lodge, and Harlowton and had long preferred a single set of controls even on double-ended motors. E20 and E21 also got roller bearings on all axles and passenger gearing. They kept those road numbers after the class letters changed.

The old body copy on this page said the two passenger motors were reclassed EF-4 when the Olympian Hiawatha died in 1961. The roster footnote on the same page said 1956. 1956 is the date to lock. By then management wanted the EP-4s on freight. Newly migrated EP-2 Bipolars took the varnish on the Mountain Division; when those proved a poor fit, three-unit consists of EMD E-units and/or FP7s ran the Olympian Hiawatha through to its May 1961 cutoff. The steam generators came off the Joes around that 1956 freight conversion. The locomotives never wore the post-1955 Union Pacific–inspired Armour Yellow used on some Milwaukee passenger motors. They kept E20 and E21 through the end of electrification—E20 was on the last run in 1974.

A later, separate change hit the freight Joes in the mid-1960s: “B” cab windshields blanked and electronics rearranged so a Joe could MU trailing diesel-electrics. That is not the 1950 EP-4 steam-generator conversion. Do not mix the two.

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-78 at Three Forks MT in 1963

Milwaukee Road "Little Joe" E-78 (EF-4), and a mate, rest between assignments at Three Forks, Montana on June 24, 1963. Bob Johnson photo.

Rocky Mountain Division, not the Coast

The Joes worked Harlowton–Avery: St. Paul Pass, Vendome Loop, Pipestone Pass, the Clark Fork, Deer Lodge shops. Grades through the Bitterroots ran over 2 percent. They took the place, in daily work, of aging GE boxcabs—classes EP-1, EF-1, and the rebuilt EF-2 / EF-3 sets—not of the Coast Division Bipolars. The Bipolars stayed on the Coast until 1957, then came east and had a short, unhappy Mountain Division passenger career that this site’s EP-2 page covers. Joes never replaced them on the Coast in 1950. Coast substations could not feed a Joe at full load.

Early tests were ugly. World War I–vintage motor-generator substations had trouble supplying more than two EF-4s under heavy current. Wheelslip was common until Milwaukee added weight and raised pan height. Once the plant caught up—some substations later put about 3,400 volts on the wire—the Joes were the motors the mountain wanted. They handled time freights with names like XL Special and Thunderhawk. A common late consist was two Joes and a Geep, “two Joes and a Jeep” in shop talk.

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-71 and E-74 in service, summer 1972. George Fischer photo. American-Rails.com collection.

The Olympian Hiawatha, Harlowton to Avery

Until 1961 the railroad still ran a transcontinental passenger train between Chicago and Puget Sound. Electrics did not take it the whole way. Joes handled the Olympian Hiawatha on the wired Rocky Mountain Division, Harlowton to Avery. E20 and E21 wore two-tone orange for that work. Freight-geared Joes also appeared on varnish behind converted steam-generator tenders when the dispatcher needed them; E72 is photographed that way on train 15. After 1956 the assigned passenger Joes were already freight motors in class. After May 1961 there was no Seattle train left to pull. The two-tone came off in favor of the solid orange with black trim the freight fleet wore, later the plainer orange-and-black of the 1960s.

Milwaukee Road Little Joes led by E-73 westbound freight Montana circa 1972

A pair of Milwaukee Road Little Joes, led by E-73, with a westbound freight in Montana, circa 1972. Location not recorded. American-Rails.com collection.

Diesels on the drawbar, and E78’s second face

Milwaukee designed its own MU so a Joe could lead trailing diesel-electrics. First it was often a single GP9, nicknamed Sputnik on the drawbar of a Soviet-order motor. By the 1960s and early 1970s, SD40-2s and SD45s behind one or two Joes were ordinary on the mountain. The electrics kept the train in a speed range the diesels liked on the grade. Boxcabs could still MU as the Harlowton switcher at the end; the Joes were the road power.

In May 1966, E78 was wrecked. Milwaukee Shops back east rebuilt it with EMD “bulldog” passenger cabs and a pair of stainless F-unit-style Farr side grilles. It was the odd Joe in every late photograph. The other eleven kept GE ends.

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-72 Harlowton Montana May 7 1958

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-72 layover near the roundhouse at Harlowton, Montana, May 7, 1958. American-Rails.com collection.

June 15, 1974

By 1974 the Joes were Milwaukee’s only electric road locomotives. The original boxcabs were worn out except for a pair used together as the Harlowton switcher. Management shut the Rocky Mountain electrification down in June. One of the last moves was June 15: E73 and E20 on train 264 into Deer Lodge. The oil shock that followed made the decision look worse than it did in the boardroom. Milwaukee spent the next years buying diesel fuel and diesel locomotives to replace motors that had already been paid for. The Pacific Extension itself did not survive the 1980 embargo and the 1985 abandonment. That is a system story, not a locomotive one. The Joes had already been stored, then cut up.

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-77 and E-20 eastbound 264 Clark Fork St Regis Montana May 23 1974

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-77 and E-20 lead eastbound time freight 264 over the Clark Fork River at St. Regis, Montana, May 23, 1974. In less than a month the electrification would be shut down. American-Rails.com collection.

Milwaukee roster

Build months below follow this page’s long-standing table. GE serials and original Soviet A-numbers are the same set this site has carried, with the caveat the old copy already printed: unit-by-unit Soviet numbers and serials are not documented well enough to treat as builder cards. One conflict is now specific. This table assigns serial 29930 to E73. The Diesel Shop and Railroad Picture Archives assign 29930 to South Shore 801. Do not silently pick. The twenty-unit serial block is 29913–29932; which twelve of those twenty became Milwaukee motors is the unsettled part.

Road no.	Built	As-built class	GE serial (this table)	Soviet no. (this table)	Notes
E20	Oct. 1948	EP-4	29922	A1601	Steam generator; rollers all axles. Reclassed EF-4 1956; number kept. On the June 15, 1974 last run (train 264 with E73). Scrapped
E21	Oct. 1948	EP-4	29921	A1600	Same passenger modifications as E20. Reclassed EF-4 1956; number kept. Scrapped
E70	Dec. 1948	EF-4	29927	A1591	GE test/demonstrator lineage (29927 tested Dec. 24, 1948). Donated to Deer Lodge, 1975. Only Milwaukee survivor
E71	Jan. 1949	EF-4	29928	A1592	Scrapped
E72	Feb. 1949	EF-4	29929	A1593	Photographed on passenger with a steam-generator tender. Scrapped
E73	Feb. 1949	EF-4	29930	A1594	On the June 15, 1974 last run. Serial 29930 is also listed for CSS 801; treat as disputed. Scrapped
E74	Dec. 1948	EF-4	29926	A1595	Scrapped
E75	July 1948	EF-4	29916	A1596	Scrapped
E76	July 1948	EF-4	29917	A1597	Scrapped
E77	July 1948	EF-4	29918	A1598	Scrapped
E78	Sept. 1948	EF-4	29919	A1599	Wrecked May 1966; rebuilt at Milwaukee Shops with EMD bulldog cabs and Farr F-unit grilles. Scrapped
E79	Sept. 1948	EF-4	29920	A1602	Scrapped

The eight that did not come west

Of the twenty, Milwaukee was the last buyer, not the first. South Shore 801–803 ran freight on 1,500-volt DC from 1949 to 1981; two survive (802 at North East, Pennsylvania; 803 operational at IRM). See South Shore 800s. Paulista 450–454, later FEPASA 6451–6455, were re-gauged to 5 ft 3 in and ran in São Paulo state until Brazilian electric freight ended in 1999. Two of those Russas are preserved in Brazil. Same GE order. Different railroads, gauges, and voltages.

E70 at Deer Lodge

After the June 1974 shutdown the Joes sat in storage until the torch. E70 was donated to the City of Deer Lodge in 1975 and set on the Powell County courthouse grounds. HAER recorded it with the interior gutted and the motors and gearing gone. It is painted in Olympian Hiawatha two-tone for display. That is exhibit paint, not how E70 retired; E70 was an EF-4 freight motor. An E9, 36-A, is displayed in town as well. Confirm hours and access locally. American-Rails.com does not operate the locomotive.

Photo Gallery

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-74 Deer Lodge Montana June 23 1970 Mac Owen

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-74 and a mate layover at the engine terminal in Deer Lodge, Montana, June 23, 1970. Photo from the Mac Owen collection.

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-71 E-77 SD40-2s Clark Fork St Regis Montana September 1972

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-71 and E-77, with SD40-2s 3038, 3024, and 3026, lead a westbound freight over the Clark Fork River and Northern Pacific main line at St. Regis, Montana, September 1972. American-Rails.com collection.

Milwaukee Road Little Joes and boxcabs steel gang Newcomb Montana July 1973 Bob Wilt

Milwaukee Road Little Joes and boxcabs with a steel-gang train near Newcomb, Montana, just outside of Butte, July 1973. Bob Wilt photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-74 Pipestone Pass Janney Montana October 21 1973 William Eley

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-74 leads a westbound freight off Pipestone Pass near Janney, Montana, heading for Butte, October 21, 1973. William Eley photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-71 and E-70 Rocker Montana May 9 1962

Milwaukee Road Little Joes E-71 and E-70 with a westbound freight at the small yard in Rocker, Montana, May 9, 1962. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection.

Milwaukee Road Little Joes eastbound Clark Fork St Regis Montana September 1972

A pair of Milwaukee Road Little Joes head east across the Clark Fork River at St. Regis, Montana, September 1972. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection.

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-72 westbound freight near Butte Montana July 8 1972

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-72 leads a westbound freight near Butte, Montana, July 8, 1972. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection.

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-72 SD45 4006 westbound Goldcreek Montana August 1971

Milwaukee Road Little Joe E-72 and SD45 4006 with a westbound freight just west of Goldcreek, Montana, August 1971. The Northern Pacific main line is in the background. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection.

Sources

Noel T. Holley, The Milwaukee Electrics (N J International, 1987; later Hundman). Purchase, $1 million / spares, 3 kV ratings, starting/continuous tractive effort
Historic American Engineering Record, Milwaukee Road electrification / Deer Lodge (HAER MT-5): 5,110 / 5,530 hp, 275 tons, 88 ft 10 in, E70 gutted, “two Joes and a Jeep”
High Iron Illustrations, Little Joe specification sheet (archived): 545,600 lb, 68 mph, 75,700 lbf TE, 88 ft 10 in, serial block 29913–29932, order 1946
Classic Trains, “The runaway train that didn’t”: GE-750 demonstrator at Renton, 1949; demonstrator became E70
Railroad Picture Archives, MILW E78: wrecked May 1966; rebuilt with E-unit cabs and Farr grille
HMDB, Electrified Railroad marker, Deer Lodge: E70 donated 1975; Harlowton–Avery 1950–74
William D. Middleton, South Shore: The Last Interurban (for the three CSS sisters)
American-Rails.com, South Shore 800s (/css800.html) and EP-2 Bipolars (/bip.html)
Tom Murray, The Milwaukee Road (MBI, 2005)
Jim Scribbins, The Hiawatha Story (University of Minnesota, 2007) and Milwaukee Road Remembered (University of Minnesota, 2008)
Brian Solomon and John Gruber, The Milwaukee Road’s Hiawathas (Voyageur, 2006)
Charles R. Wood and Dorothy M. Wood, Milwaukee Road West (Superior, 1972)
Michael Sol, Milwaukee Road Archives

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