The American Locomotive Company (ALCO) was formed in the 1920's through the merger of several small locomotive works including Brooks, Schenectady, and Richmond among others. ALCO and Baldwin were the major builders in the steam era. Some of the best steam locomotives ever built came from ALCO. Unlike Baldwin, ALCO was a pioneer in diesel locomotive development. The very first successful diesel locomotive was built by a consortium of ALCO, GE, and Ingersoll-Rand in 1926. ALCO lost its competitive edge to General Motor's EMD in the 1950's and to General Electric in the 1960's. ALCO stopped domestic production in 1968.
Railfans love ALCOs. First, they smoke like steam locomotives. This is due to the high oil consumption of their MacIntosh and Seymour engines (not a good thing, the EPA wouldn't approve). Second, Their carbodies are generally better looking than those of other builders. The ALCO PA is the best looking diesel locomotive ever built. Third, they are increasingly rare. ALCOs in the wild (regular service) are just about extinct.
RS-3
The 1600 horsepower ALCO RS-3 was the most popular unit produced by ALCO. Conrail inherited its fleet of 134 RS-3's from the Erie Lackawanna (63: Erie 44; DL&W 18; 1 acquired by EL), Penn Central (35 : PRR 5; NYC 23; NH 7), Jersey Central (28; 5 ex RDG), and Lehigh Valley (6). 45 other Penn Central RS-3's went to Amtrak at the formation of Conrail.
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Had Erie-Lackawanna RS-3 1056 been renumbered and put into service, its Conrail number would have been 5272. This unit was built as DL&W 918. It awaits its fate in the Altoona Dead Line on July 7, 1979 |
RS-3m
In 1974 or 75, The bankrupt Penn Central had a surplus of aging EMD passenger E-units and a fleet of obsolete road switchers from a builder now out of business. They came up with the idea of taking the1200 hp 567 diesel engines from the E-units (they have two), and fitting them into ALCO RS-3 frames and bodies. The work was done at Penn Central's DeWitt shops in Syracuse, New York. These locomotives became known as "DeWitt Geeps". The Erie-Lackawanna also had a similar program at their Hornell, N.Y. shops. At the formation of Conrail, the Penn Central had completed 34 RS-3m's, and the Erie-Lackawanna had only completed 1. Conrail continued the program and moved it to Altoona, Pa. in 1978, eventually building a fleet of 96 units (5 in 1976, 3 in 1977, 14 in 1978, 40 in 1979). The units did not last long in service, all were retired by 1986.
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RS-3m 9930 poses at Abrams Yard on December 27, 1979 Photo by Mike Szilagyi. |
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The one and only RS-3m produced by the Erie-Lackawanna was Conrail 9998. 9998 is seen in the dead line in the ash pit at Bethlehem Engine Terminal March 31, 1983. |
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RS-3m's 9911 and 9908 in the dead line at Enola, Pa. October 19, 1984. |
RS-11 and RS-11m
The RS-11 was a late first generation unit built in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Conrail inherited its 57 RS11's from the Penn Central (53: 31 PRR; 9 NYC; 13 NH) and the Lehigh Valley (4). The 6 RS-11m's came from the Lehigh Valley, but were actually owned by the Penn Central. In the early 1960's, the PRR bought a controlling interest in the Lehigh Valley. The PRR sent these locomotives back to ALCO to be upgraded and then to the financially strapped Lehigh Valley.
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One of the six Penn Central owned Lehigh Valley RS-11m's, Ex-LV RS-11m 7643 is at Bethlehem Engine Terminal in November, 1978. |
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RS-11 7652 at Bethlehem Engine Terminal June 1980. |
C-420
The C-420 was the first model of ALCO's Century series of second generation diesels introduced in 1963. These 12 cylinder 2000 horsepower units were the beginning of ALCO's last stand. Conrail's fleet of 6 C-420's came from the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway. The Lehigh Valley's 20 C-420's went to the Delaware and Hudson, to service the new trackage rights given to the D & H over Conrail to provide "competition" in the northeastern US rail market.
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Ex-L&HR C-420 2077 and ex-LV RS-11 7643 move onto the Bethlehem Turntable late on a November, 1978 day. |