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.
C-628
The 2800 horsepower Century 628 was a heavy road freight locomotive introduced in the mid-1960's. Conrail inherited its 32 C-628's from the Lehigh Valley (17) and the Penn Central (15, PRR)
|
Ex PC C-628 6743 in the dead line at Altoona, Pa. on July 7, 1979 |
|
The Lehigh Valley acquired 9 C-628's from the Monon around 1970. One of the Valley's ex-Monon units became CR 6736. It is seen at Belmont (Philadelphia) in June of 1979. Photo by Mike Szilagyi. |