Trains – September 2019

My favorites were the 1950s-built RS-11s, and its early 1960s suc-
cessor, Century series C420. Central Vermont routinely worked its
RS-11s to Palmer, Mass., where I often watched and photographed
them at work. Alco enthusiast Hal Raiser exclaimed, “Alco RS-11s,
anywhere, anytime” — a thought I’d happily endorsed in my youth.
My notebook from spring 1983 highlights my quests to catch
Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific RS-11s recently transferred to CV by
parent Canadian National, but still in DW&P paint, with its slogan
“Delivered with Pride” on their long hoods. In my endeavor to pho-
tograph them, I was repeatedly foiled by bad luck and the demands
of attending high school. After missing their passage through my
hometown of Monson, Mass., on one occasion, I waited after school
by the tracks for more than 3 hours in vain, only to
record in disgust that “I walked 8 miles home” with-
out reward.
A few days later, Bob Buck of Tucker’s Hobbies in
Warren, Mass., alerted me that my quarry had been
sighted working CV’s southward road freight from St.
Albans, Vt., to Palmer. Since school again threatened
to spoil my Alco quest, I pleaded my case to my
mother, who although perplexed, allowed me to skip
school and drove me to Palmer to photograph the ar-
rival of CV’s freight. I don’t know what I missed in
class that day, but whatever I may have learned would have been
long forgotten, while I still recall the thrill of seeing those RS-11s
pound across the Conrail diamond mid-consist on a long CV
freight. Despite the excitement, my photos were uninspired. Only
later did my enthusiasm lead to better results.
Later that year, I embarked on another memorable early
RS-11 quest, when on a gloomy late November day I traveled
with my friend Paul Goewey to Bellows Falls, Vt., to witness
Maine Central No. 802 — one of only two RS-11s on the railroad’s
roster — work Green Mountain Railroad’s daily freight XR-
north over the former Rutland Railroad. On that trip I made
memorable images, which set the tone for numerous adventures
in pursuit of Alcos.
Consider that back in 1983, Alco was only 14 years gone, the

same interval of time that has now passed since General Motors di-

vested of its Electro-Motive Division in 2005. Today, EMD is owned

by Caterpillar’s Progress Rail. But while in the 1950s, EMD was the

builder that dominated domestic locomotive production at Alco’s

expense, it is now a minority domestic supplier. Since the 1980s,

General Electric Transportation (now Wabtec) has commanded the

larger share of production. Does this help put Alco and modern

builders in perspective? Although a corporate ghost, Alco’s diesels

have continued to ply American rails.

Today, can we compare Progress Rail’s EMD and Wabtec’s former

GE Transportation technological situations to that of Alco in 1983?

Taking into consideration that MLW-Bombardier’s North American

production had scant sales in the U.S., in each of these

three scenarios, the inventing company’s lineage has

changed while their technological legacies have been

perpetuated under new umbrellas. Fast forward: what

might become of EMD and GE diesel locomotive

technologies in another 35-50 years?

Railroad enthusiasm manifests itself in magnifi-

cent ways. Many of the Alcos that I photographed in

the early 1980s have reappeared again and again on

different lines. It’s like a reunion with an old friend

when I focus on an engine that I photographed years

ago, dressed in new paint and toiling for yet another master. It seems

ironic that many Alco diesels that I documented as a vanishing

breed have survived, while legions of newer and technologically

advanced EMD and GE diesels have come and gone.

Alco’s durable technology enabled its diesels to survive for a half-

century after the company succumbed to market conditions. Eco-

nomics aside, I have no doubt that many of today’s Alco operators

continue to maintain these antiques, not simply because they can,

but because they want to. 2

2019

27,738 Big Six locomotives on 2 pages!

F59: WGO wouldn’ttake no foran answerhen

MISSION CONTROLHow Wabtec remotelymonitors locomotivesaround the globe

Union PacifiThe fi rst and fi nal milesA-B-B-B-B-A revival: c 4141:

BNSF-style

LIVES50 years afterSchenectady closed,its legacy lives on

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MORE STORIES ABOUT ALCOS:

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TrainsMag.com 15

ALTHOUGH A

CORPORATE

GHOST, ALCO’S

DIESELS HAVE

CONTINUED TO PLY

AMERICAN RAILS.

As seen from Delaware-Lackawanna westward freight PT97, a former Lehigh Valley C420, working as the second unit, assists the train as it
climbs through the Delaware Water Gap west of Slateford Junction, Pa., on Oct. 13, 2005. Two photos, Brian Solomon