In the days after the Second World War, advances in locomotive technology and electric power distribution created a heightened interest in railroad electrification. The conventional electric was more expensive to operate and did not work as well in certain weathers. But it not only had many of the same advantage over the steam engine as the diesel, but were also faster and made more attractive images to the public.
General Electric developed several ideas for various routes that would benefit from electrification. In addition, they proposed various locomotives to serve these electrified routes. Among them being the "Little Joes" which they built from aborted orders for the Soviet Union. The Little Joes were already popular on the Chicago area's Lake Shore Railroad, and were found to be perfect freight engines on the Milwaukee Road's electrified mainlines. In addition, plans for a passenger engine would be resemble double-ended EMD units.
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, & Pacific
- The entire mainline from Seattle, WA to Chicago, IL via Spokane, WA; Helena, MT; Twin Cities, MN; and Milwaukee, WI, with a new line from Seattle up to Vancouver
New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad
- Complete line from New York, NY to Boston, MA
Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy
- The Casper, Big Horn, Orin, Campbell, Black Hills, Front Range, Valley, Butte, Angora, Raveena and Sand Hills subdivisions, from Alliance, NE, to Denver, CO, Laurel and Huntley, MT and Lincoln, NE
Pere Marquette
- The entire Chicago, IL to Detroit, MI line via Grand Rapids and Lansing, MI
Pennsylvania Railroad/Norfolk & Western
- The Keystone Division from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh, PA
- The Panhandle line from Pittsburgh, PA to St. Louis, MO via Columbus, OH and Indianapolis, IN
- The Norfolk & Western from Norfolk, VA to Williamson, WV via Richmond and Roanoke, VA
- The RF&P from Washington DC to Richmond, VA
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad
- The complete D&RGW primary main line from Salt Lake City and Ogden, UT to Denver, CO, via Soldier Summit and Green River, UT and the Moffat Tunnel
- The complete line from Grand Junction to Pueblo, CO via Gunnison and Canon City
New York Central
- The complete Water Level Route from New York, NY to Chicago, IL via Albany and Buffalo, NY; Cleveland and Toledo, OH; and South Bend, IN
Illinois Central
- The complete IC main line from Chicago, IL to New Orleans, LA via Carbondale, IL; Memphis, TN; and Jackson, MS
Southern Railway
- The complete Rathole Division from Cincinnati, OH to Atlanta, GA via Lexington, KY and Chattanooga, TN
Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe
- The entire main line from Chicago, IL to Los Angeles, CA via Kansas City, MO; La Junta, CO; Albuquerque, NM; and Flagstaff, AZ
Southern Pacific
- The Salt Lake Division from Roseville, CA to Salt Lake City and Ogden, UT, via Truckee, CA and Reno, NV
- The Los Angeles Division from Bakersfield and Oxnard to Long Beach and West Colton, CA
- The Las Vegas Division from Santa Clarita, CA, to Las Vegas, NV, via Palmdale and Mojave, CA and Henderson, NV
- The Sunset Route from Colton, CA to Tucumcari, NM via Phoenix, AZ and El Paso, TX
Baltimore & Ohio
- Point of Rocks, MD to Pittsburgh, PA and Parkersburg, WV via Cumberland, MD; Connellsville, PA; and Grafton and Clarksburg, WV
Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western
- The entire line from Buffalo, NY to Jersey City, NJ via Binghamton, NY and Scranton, PA
Like with the proposed Ripley Plan, many of these did not get past the planning stages at the time. But unlike the Ripley Plan, they were eventually built when the oil troubles began again in earnest in a few years.
OOC: Special thanks to
@TheMann and
@Lucas for ideas.