In 1946 the USSR ordered 20 electric locomotives from General Electric,Middleton, William D., "Those Russian Electrics", Trains, July 1970. pp. 42-3. Middleton, William D. "When the steam railroads electrified 2nd ed." Univ. of Indiana, 2001. p.238 the same US corporation that supplied locomotives for the first Soviet electrification. Due to the cold war, they could not be delivered to the USSR so they were sold elsewhere. The Milwaukee Road and some other railroad companies in the US obtained 12, which were converted to standard gauge. They were nicknamed "Little Joes" ("Joe" referring to Joseph Stalin, the Soviet premier).
