Talk:GE 25-ton switcher

U.S. Army technical manual

After a bit of digging, I stumbled upon an U.S. Army technical manual regarding the GE 23 and 25 ton locomotives. This should be a great resource to add more details about the locomotive. [1]

I've gone ahead and updated the infobox and article with information from the technical manual, but I'd appreciate if another person could check the numbers and make sure I entered them all correctly and using the correct sections of the infobox. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 19:56, 28 July 2021 (UTC)

copy-editing suggestions

The comparison to the GE AC4400CW in the beginning isn't needed; The "mere" in "...top speed being limited to a mere 20 mph" should be removed. The sentence " Despite their old age, a number of 25-tonners continue to carry out their switching duties to this day for industries and some short-line railroads." needs some re-writing as well; namely I don't think "despite their old age" and "to this day" fit Wikipedia tone/style.

I'd also suggest taking a look at The Diesel Shop's roster for the GE 25-tonner- I'm not 100% sure if they're a reliable source in their own right, but it lists some sources that might be useful for further digging. Pokemonprime (talk) 20:24, 28 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the suggestions, I went ahead and implemented all of them. I agree that the diesel shop might not be a reliable source, but I'm going to add it for now - it can always be removed later and there are enough other sources to establish notability and verifiability. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 20:47, 28 July 2021 (UTC)

Feedback from New Page Review process

I left the following feedback for the creator/future reviewers while reviewing this article: For a first article, this is well done..

Whiteguru (talk) 01:00, 2 August 2021 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:GE 25-ton switcher/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Ealdgyth (talk · contribs) 16:25, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

My dad would be thrilled to see me review a train article... will start this shortly. Ealdgyth (talk) 16:25, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• One initial comment I want to make is that this was my first ever article. I've done a fair amount of cleanup from my initial version, which was less than what I'd call GA standards, but it's possible I missed a few dumb things. For instance I see I still have some citations in the lead, I will address those right now. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 16:47, 22 January 2022 (UTC)
  • No rush - I'm actually traveling on the road with my hubby (semi-truck driver) and we're about to stop for a break, so it'll be an hour or so before I start on this. -- Ealdgyth (talk) 16:52, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

GA review (see here for what the criteria are, and here for what they are not)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose, spelling, and grammar): b (MoS for lead, layout, word choice, fiction, and lists):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (reference section): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR): d (copyvio and plagiarism):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars, etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images and other media, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free content have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

• Refs:
  • Okay, so http://www.prrh.org/downloads/ge-25ton.pdf this ref should be treated as a book - it's really the army manual - and published by the Army. So something like {{cite book|title=TM 55-1268: Locomotive Diesel-Electric 56'/2' Gage General Electric 23 and 25 Ton, 0-4-0 |author=Staff |publisher=Department of the Army |date=July 1954}} (fill in the rest too... I'm lazy). Not that I didn't use all capitals - per MOS:ALLCAPS, we don't even when the source does.

Y Done now, you may want to double check my work. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 22:51, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• • More nitpicking but there's no need to use the language parameter in citation templates unless its not in English. Nor do you need to specify the regional variety of English ... plain "English" is fine.

I didn't do any of that. An update to mediawiki dropped this week and has automatically added this all over the place for some reason. I'm not actually certain how to remove it. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 19:02, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

Did you have <nowki>|language=en</nowki> as a parameter in your refs before the update? You don't need that parameter at all if the language is English. See Template:cite web, where down near the bottom "When the only source language is English, no language is displayed in the citation." -- Ealdgyth (talk) 19:10, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

Y I must have been lazy and used the automatic citation generator. Those parameters have been there for months, but it was only very recently it started saying "in American English" in the citations. After working around a fun new bug, I was able to remove the parameters from all the references which had them. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 23:06, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• • more nitpicking: https://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/news/niagara-region/2019/01/11/museum-a-reminder-of-rail-s-glory-days.html should be cited as a newspaper article using {{cite news}}

Y Done. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 23:06, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• • What makes http://thedieselshop.us/GE_25Ton.HTML a reliable source?

It's imperfect, but the page does cite sources, including GE production records and specialist books, and lists several people who have provided corrections. I have independently verified several entries on this page as being accurate, including MKT 400, the Hartford Electric Light Co. engines, the Long Island RR engines, and the Central Texas Gravel Co. locomotive. This roster is incomplete (missing production for the United States Armed Forces, in particular), but I'm not using it to support the total production number being around 550 locomotives, there are other sources which support that number. What this source does do is show that a lot of industrial customers bought 1 or 2 of these locomotives each, and that there was a wide geographical distribution of customers. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 19:22, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• • What makes http://www.rgusrail.com/ararm.html a reliable source?

Y Arguably it isn't, but I've replaced it with a citation to the museum's official website. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 23:19, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• Lead:
  • "for buyers on every continent except for Oceania" ... Oceania isn't a continent and did buyers really buy one for Antarctica? Suggest "for buyers all over the world except for Oceania and Antarctica"

Y Rewrote as "for buyers on five continents". Trainsandotherthings (talk) 19:02, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• • YOu may want to define what "switching duties" entails. I know (courtesy of my now-deceased railfan father) but a lot of folks won't. At least some effort should be made to explain the basics to the non-railfan... (Scarily, a lot of museums are now using wiki pages on their exhibits...)

Y I've added a brief definition, as well as linking to Shunting (rail) (the powers that be have decided the article will use the European name). Trainsandotherthings (talk) 00:05, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

• • link the "hp" and "kW" in "150 hp or 110 kW" and "mph"

When you say link, do you mean to horsepower and kilowatt? Trainsandotherthings (talk) 23:30, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

Yes. We should always link abbreviations - ideally we also do "horsepower (hp)" for the dense... Ealdgyth (talk) 23:46, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

Y Got it. The units in the lead are all linked now. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 00:05, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

• design section:
  • link units as above

Y Links added, you might want to double check if I got them all. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 00:05, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

• Operating history:
  • link for "railfans"?

Y Wikilink added. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 19:02, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• • "A number continued to operate into the 21st century, a testament to their durability." A number of what? railcar movers or the 25-tonners?

Y The 25-tonners (I can't put this in the article without a citation obviously, but I worked with a company last year that has an operating example of this locomotive). I've specified I'm talking about this locomotive model now. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 19:02, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• Modeling:
  • Pretty sure dad had an HO scale model of a 25-tonner...

I do see [2] there is indeed an HO scale version. Would citing this page be a good enough source to support the claim that HO scale versions are made? Trainsandotherthings (talk) 19:02, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

Assuming they making and/or selling the kits, yep.

Y Added now. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 19:10, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

Trainsandotherthings, think you could get PIKO to license a photo of one of their models for use here? They might or might not be willing to, and the article already has a number of photos. But they're pretty cool looking. --Usernameunique (talk) 19:21, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• Please check my copyedits to make sure they didn't change meaning.

Y Looks like one put "Collection" as the website name [3], which isn't correct and I have changed. Everything else is good. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 19:02, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

• I randomly googled three phrases and only turned up Wikipedia mirrors. Earwig's tool shows no sign of copyright violation.

I've put the article on hold for seven days to allow folks to address the issues I've brought up. Feel free to contact me on my talk page, or here with any concerns, and let me know one of those places when the issues have been addressed. If I may suggest that you strike out, check mark, or otherwise mark the items I've detailed, that will make it possible for me to see what's been addressed, and you can keep track of what's been done and what still needs to be worked on. Ealdgyth (talk) 18:44, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

Ealdgyth (talk) 19:05, 22 January 2022 (UTC)

I believe I've gotten everything now, let me know if there's anything else I need to do. Thank you for your quick responses. Trainsandotherthings (talk) 00:05, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

These all look good. Passing now. I'll note that the one source I queried above would be a definite no-go for FAC, if you're thinking of taking it to that venue at some point. Ealdgyth (talk) 14:40, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

Agreed, this is an article that likely won't ever make it to FAC, at least not with the current extent of sourcing available. Thanks! Trainsandotherthings (talk) 14:52, 23 January 2022 (UTC)

Preservation

Something found in our own back yard :-)

Portage Flyer Christmas. (Muskoka Heritage Place, Huntsville Ontario) Photo by Robert Nelson

FullScale4Me (talk) 01:24, 7 December 2023 (UTC)

• Heritage Place - official website owner of the engine at left. Linked page also supports detail mentioned in last 25T Wikipedia article edit (reverted).FullScale4Me (talk) 01:23, 7 December 2023 (UTC)
• Heritage Place GE 25 t cited on page 28 FullScale4Me (talk) 01:23, 7 December 2023 (UTC)