GE Gem: Though it was a pioneer in the switcher market during dieseldom's first generation, GE's switching line had mostly tapered out by the time it entered the road diesel market in the late 60's. Unlike EMD, which produced a substantial number of second and third generation switchers, GE produced just a handful of modern, full-sized switching diesels under the SL-110 and SL-144 model numbers. It was a pleasant surprise, then, to see this lovely example parked among the other exhibits during my last visit to the Virginia Transportation Museum in Roanoke. Info is scarce on this beast, but the builder's number would seem to indicate that it started out as the GE demo before being sold to the AEP.
