ALCO Miscellany
ALCO Miscellany
Hey, we're a sucker for underdogs, and dogs don't come much more under than first-generation Alco switchers. Sure, diesel locomotives are built to last, but the fact that many hundreds of these machines, most built in the 'fifties, and by a manufacturer that went belly-up nearly thirty years ago, is nothing short of miraculous. Below is a selection of 'little' Alcos we have encountered over the years. Some are now gone, while others soldier on.
Chances are the distinctive rumble of Alco four-cycle diesels will be heard for decades to come. Recently, the National Railway Equipment Co., which has obtained the rights to build and sell both Alco and Fairbanks-Morse engine designs, has been advertising its capabilities in the railway press. Their web site, reportedly under construction, can be reached from this link.
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Our only encounter with a Santa Fe ALCO switcher. This S2, despite its intact paint job, apparently had been retired by ATSF and was working for a private scrap yard when we caught up with it along the Ship Channel below Houston, Texas in February 1981 (AT_2355.JPG; 76Kb). |
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Conrail continued a program initiated by Penn Central to re-engine various old RS2's and RS3's with 1200 HP EMD engines. One of these so-called 'Dewitt Geeps', the 9929, was the regular switching power at Conemaugh Yard in Johnstown, PA for a time in the early '80's. 27 January 1980 (CR_9929.JPG; 87Kb). |
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Boston & Maine S4 1274 idles with an ex-Penn Central caboose in the yard at Portland, Maine in August 1977. (BM_1274.JPG; 77Kb) |
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Same yard, same type, same date, different road : Portland Terminal 1056 shows off its handsome paint scheme. August 1977 (PT_1056.JPG; 78Kb). |
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Oh how we wish we'd had more time in Chicago during that trip back in May '78! Early in the morning in Blue Island, IL, rare Rock Island C415 424 smokes it up on the yard lead (ri_424.jpg; 69Kb).
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Late autumn is the busy season on the Gettysburg Rairoad, when harvesting peaks in this apple-growing region of central Pennsylvania. On October 21, 1979, this meant triple-headed, ex-Long Island RS3's to handle the tonnage. Biglerville, Pa. (GE1555.JPG; 110Kb). |
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Pristine T6 #1016 of the Middletown & Hummelstown rests at Middletown, PA on May 31, 1998 (MH_1016.JPG; 94Kb). |
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Finally, while driving through the little town of Corry, PA, we chanced upon this S2 lettered for the New York & Lake Erie, being fueled up for service later that day (the tanker is out of view behind the locomotive). This is our most recent pic of a working ALCO product, but will surely not be the last. 04 June 1998 (NY_85.JPG; 73Kb). |