Surviving Alcos

[Matt L]

Alcos are my favorite diesel locomotives. Both N&W and NKP bought a number of them, with a few still in existence today. I saw two of them during 2008, so I'm going to share some photos.

Here is Bath & Hammondsport #4, an ex-NKP S-1:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/22/2008 at the B&H engine house in Cohocton, NY.   

[Matt L]

Here is B&H #4, as seen from another angle. She was built as NKP #85 andrenumber to #2085 by N&W in 1964. She was sold to GE in 1970, who in turm sold the little S-1 to the B&H in August of the same year. I have seen #4 running on the Bath & Hammondsport RR literally hundreds of times, mostly when the original mainline was active. She has been in storage for a few years now because bigger power is usually needed for current B&H operations.   



Photo taken by me Friday 8/22/2008.   

[Matt L]

Shifting north by about a 2 hour drive and over 3 months on the calender, Falls Road RS11 #1802 leads a Santa Train east at Brockport, NY.  This Alco began life as NKP #863 in 1959 and was renumbered to 2863 by N&W 5 years later. After spending a couple decades on the Winchester & Western, she was purchased by Genesee Valley Transportation (GVT) and was eventually assigned to Falls Road. Although #1802 normally holds down freight duties on the Falls Road, she occasionally handles excursions for Medina RR Museum... which operates on the same tracks.   



Photo taken by me Saturday 12/6/2008. 

[E.M. Bell]

The Alco S1 and S2 switchers would have to be my #2 most favorite switcher that I have ran.  From the ones I have been around, I cant say a bad thing about them. 

[etalcos]

Good power indeed!  I always liked the RS-1s in Oak Ridge, and our C-420s have usually been at work for 10 minutes while the EMD is considering loading -- or not.  One thing is for sure, you have to be smarter than they are; if you rely on the locomotive to do your thinking for you, you need a new GE.....

[Matt L]

During my youth, #4 and her sister #5 (an ex-NYC S-1) were the sole power on the Bath & Hammondsport RR. They were 26 years old each (#5 was also built in 1950) when I began watching the B&H in 1976.  No morning was too cold for them. Deep snow was rarely a problem. Either S-1 could handle a string of 10-12 freight cars with ease. I'm no engineer, but those little Alcos looked like the most reliable diesel locomotives ever built. Along with the Centuries, S-class switchers are my favorite Alco power.   

[Matt L]

Correction- I saw THREE ex-N&W Alcos last year! The third locomotive was Livonia, Avon & Lakeville #418. This rare RS36 began life as NKP #865 and became N&W #2865 in 1964. She was purchased by the Ontario Central in 1979 and was renumbered to 86. The LA&L purchased the Ontario Central in 1998 and renumbered her to #418. The RS36 remained in the LA&L fold after ONCT was sold to the Finger Lakes Railway (which has no Alcos) in 2007.  Number 418 was moved to the LA&L enginehouse in Lakeville shortly afterward. Here we see her in the midst of repairs and getting a paint job last spring:



Photo taken by me Friday 4/25/2008.      

[Matt L]

By the time I toured the LA&L enginehouse last year, #418's repairs were almost complete. She hit the road by summer, serving both as yard power in Lakeville and back-up power for the LA&L's run to Genesee Junction near Rochester.  I hope to photograph #418 on a road freight this year.

Interesting trivia related to #418:

1. She is one of only 5 Alco RS36 units still operating.
2. With the scrapping of Knox & Kane #70 (originally NKP #870) last year, #418 is the last RS36 built for NKP still in existence.
3. She is 1 of only 2 RS36 units owned by N&W that still run. A high nose RS36 of N&W origin is #408 on the Ontario Midland, another shortline not far from Rochester.    
4. The Ontario Midland and Ontario Central were originally owned by the same management, hence the purchase of 2 RS36s.
5. The Ontario Central is 13 miles of the former Lehigh Valley mainline, which means that #418 probably travelled those rails as #865 and later #2865 when LV pooled power with NKP/N&W in the '60s and '70s.

Although repainted and renumbered, it's nice to see #418 is in good hands:



Photo taken by me Friday 4/25/2008 in Lakeville, NY.  

[Matt L]

Another shot of ex-NKP #85 (now B&H #4) parked in the snow last weekend:



Photo taken by me Friday 1/30/2009 in Cohcton, NY.

[Matt L]

Number 4 has her capped stacked for the winter, as the Bath & Hammondsport RR is using sister S1 #5 for switching and MOW duties:



Photo taken by me Friday 1/30/2009 in Cohocton, NY.

[Matt L]

I spent alot of time with #4 in the '70s and '80s, so these phots of her in the snow make me feel rather nostalgic.



Photo taken by me Friday 1/30/2009 in Cohocton, NY.  

[Matt L]

Technically, these rebuilt Alcos are N&W survivors as well. Bath & Hammondsport C424ms #422 and #423 began life as Erie Lackawanna #s 2414 and 2407 respectively in 1963. Thus they were under N&W ownership during EL's Dereco years from 1968 to 1972.  Here we see them on the former EL Wayland Branch shortly before they reach an interchange with NS in Painted Post, NY:



Photo taken by me Friday 1/30/2009.

 

[Railnet]

Nice pictures guys!

[Matt L]

Thanks! All of the shots in this thread are mine so far...

More may be coming soon, but I don't want to jinx myself.  

[Railnet]

Thanks! All ofthe shots in this thread are mine so far...

More may be coming soon, but I don't want to jinx myself. 

My bad : Nice shot Matt

[Matt L]

The Wellsboro & Corning RR (freight) and Tioga Central (passenger excrisons) are owned by the same company, operate on the same tracks and share locomotives. One of the Aclos in their stable is RS3u #506. She was orginally built as Delaware & Hudson RS3 #4112 in the early '50s. Just like the former EL Centuries seen above, #4112 came under N&W ownership during the Dereco era from 1968 to '72. A few years later, the D&H selected 10 RS3s to be upgraded with 2000 HP 251 prime movers. GE rolled the rebuilt RS3us out in late '75 and '76, just in time for the D&H to use them on the Apollo/Mercury TOFC trains they inherited from the Lehigh Valley RR after C-Day. BTW, the Apollo/Mercury trains were a joint operation with the N&W.

The D&H sent 9 of their RS3u locomotives to the scrapper in 1988... but #506 escaped their fate by virtue of her Bicentennial paint job (which dates back to 1976). She was purchased by the Tioga Central RR in 1988 and has been working for that shortline ever since.

I had the privilege of riding an excursion behind #506 a month ago:



Photo taken by me Saturday 8/21/2010 in Middlebury Center, PA.

   

[Matt L]

Just 2 days later, I saw her on freight duty, switching for the Wellsboro & Corning RR at their transload facility.



Photo taken by me Monday 8/23/2010 at Wellsboro Junction, PA.

[Matt L]

I mentioned the Ontario Midland RR earlier in this thread. OMID is an upstate NY shortline that includes a pair of N&W survivors in its fleet- an RS11 and an RS36. I caught up with the RS11 earlier this month:



Photo taken by me Saturday 9/4/2010 in Ontario, NY.   

[Matt L]

RS11 #36 was built as N&W #361 back in 1957. She has been owned and operated by the Ontario Midland RR since 1979.



Photo taken by me Saturday 9/4/2010 in Ontario, NY.

[steveiez]

I believe Titusville and Oil Creek use Alco's. There is a switcher that works a the coal docks in Leetsdale Pa. It might be an Alco.

[Kentucky & Indiana Terminal RR]

alco switchers were never my favorites to look at (I'm a big Fairbanks and emd switcher fan) but I cant resist any switcher thats vintage.  although they're not switch engines, rs11's are about my fave alco besides the hh series , theres one near here up in corydon IN on the lnac.  Its the former 367, I think you posted on my thread about that engine a year or two ago, I didnt see that til just the other day so sorry for no response.  there's also a couple s2m's in speed/sellersburg on the southern indiana railroad but I dont know if they have any direct lineage to the southern or ns, so if its heritage youre looking for I couldnt say about those two.  (theyre both repowered with cummins) here are a few shots of the engines I mentioned, love that rs11 shot from the ontario midland by the way.

[tcwright973]

Hi,

I thought I would post a photo of an Alco S1 originally built in 1943 for the US Navy. It now operates on the Kiski Junction Railroad in Scenley, PA. They run an excursion train a couple of times a week along with freight.

Tom

[lwjabo]

Along about late 1974 Southern was retiring all there old Alco switchers. Someone came up with the idea of selling a number of them to South Vietnam. Well as things would have it South Vietnam fell before the Alcos could be shipped. I was told they had done some work on them old War Horses. The engines were worn out. They would have had to do a lot of work on them just so they would idle for a few minutes without dieing. I never heard what they finaly did with them. I think they had them stored in Atlanta near Pegram shop. Well that was some 35 years ago.

[Matt L]

alco switchers were never my favorites to look at (I'm a big Fairbanks and emd switcher fan) but I cant resist any switcher thats vintage.  although they're not switch engines, rs11's are about my fave alco besides the hh series , theres one near here up in corydon IN on the lnac.  Its the former 367, I think you posted on my thread about that engine a year or two ago, I didnt see that til just the other day so sorry for no response.  there's also a couple s2m's in speed/sellersburg on the southern indiana railroad but I dont know if they have any direct lineage to the southern or ns, so if its heritage youre looking for I couldnt say about those two.  (theyre both repowered with cummins) here are a few shots of the engines I mentioned, love that rs11 shot from the ontario midland by the way.

Nice pics! In addition to owning former N&W #367, the Louisville, New Albany and Corydon Railroad also owns a rare RS36. That locomotive began life as Delaware & Hudson #5015 in 1963 and she was on the roster during the Dereco years, so she also qualifies as an N&W survivor. LNAC acqured her in the mid '90s, when the CP liquidated the remainder of the D&H's Alco fleet.

Along the same lines, I caught a former D&H RS11 in action about a month ago that would also qualify as an N&W survivor. Number 5010 was built for the D&H in 1961 and was on the roster during the Dereco years. Both she and #5015 were used on the Apollo/Mercury intermodal trains that the D&H and the N&W jointly operated during the late '70s and early '80s. RS11 #5010 was purchased by the Buffalo Southern in the late '80s... which is a former EL branchline spun of by Conrail. Here we see the Alco pulling away from BSOR's engine house.     



Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Hamburg, NY.

[Matt L]

Here is #5010 with a boxcar in tow after having crossed the diamond with NS in Blasdell, NY. The former Erie/EL Buffalo & Southern Branch and NS's ex-NKP mainline cross in the background.



Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010.