ALCO RS-1

ALCO RS-1

DSSA #101 of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum poses for a photograph near French River, Minnesota.

Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder American Locomotive Company Montreal Locomotive Works Model RS-1 Build date March 1941 – March 1960 Total produced 469

Specifications AAR wheel arr B-B Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm), Brazil Trucks AAR type B Wheel diameter 40 in (1,016 mm) Minimum curve 57° (116.14 ft or 35.40 m) Wheelbase 40 ft 5 in (12.32 m) Length Width 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) Height 14 ft 5 in (4.39 m) Loco weight 247,500 lb (112,300 kg) Fuel capacity 1,000 US gal (3,800 L; 830 imp gal) Prime mover ALCO 539T Engine type In line Four stroke diesel Aspiration Turbocharger Displacement 1,595 cu in (26.14 L) per cylinder 9,572 cu in (156.86 L) total Generator GE GT-553-C DC generator Traction motors (4) GE 731 DC traction motors Cylinders 6 Cylinder size Loco brake Independent air Train brakes Air

Performance figures Maximum speed 65 mph (105 km/h) Power output 1,000 hp (746 kW) Tractive effort 40,425 lbf (179.82 kN)

Career Locale North America, Brazil, Saudi Arabia

The ALCO RS-1 was a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Alco-GE between 1941 and 1953 and the American Locomotive Company from 1953 to 1960. The Montreal Locomotive Works built three RS-1s in 1954. This model has the distinction of having the longest production run of any diesel locomotive for the North American market. The RS-1 was in production for 19 years from the first unit Rock Island #748 in March 1941 to the last unit National of Mexico #5663 in March 1960.

The hood unit configuration of the RS-1 pioneered the road switcher type of diesel locomotive, beginning the move away from the carbody units which featured on most diesel locomotives before then. Most North American locomotives built since have followed this basic design. In 1940, the Rock Island Railroad approached ALCO about building a locomotive for both road and switching service.

The first thirteen production locomotives were requisitioned by the US Army, the five railroads affected had to wait while replacements were manufactured. The requisitioned RS-1s were remanufactured by ALCO into six axle RSD-1s for use on the Trans Iranian Railroad to supply the Soviet Union during World War Two.

Original Owners

First Thirteen

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad	3	901–903	to US Army 8010–8012
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road”)	2	1678–1679	to US Army 8002–8003
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	4	746–749	to US Army 8004, 8007, 8005, 8006; 748 first RS-1 built in 3/41
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad	2	231, 233	to US Army 8000–8001
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company	2	601–602	to US Army 8008–8009
Total	13

Remainder of production

Railroad	Quantity	Road Numbers	Notes
Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad	1	D-2
Alabama, Tennessee and Northern Railway	11	101–111	To SLSF 101-111
Alaska Railroad	2	1000–1001	1000 at The Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry
Alton Railroad	10	50–59
Ann Arbor Railroad	2	20–21	#20 Owned By Southern Michigan Railroad Society, on loan to Shepherd, MI Railroad Depot Museum and Display #21 Owned By Southern Michigan Railroad Society
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway	6	2385–2388, 2394–2395	2385–2388 renumbered 2396–2399
Atlanta and St. Andrews Bay Railroad	10	904–913	904 is on display at Bay Line Railroad Headquarters. 905 Owned By Maryland and Delaware Railroad 22, Currently By Arkansas and Missouri Railroad 22 913 Owned By Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum H and S Railroad 913, Current owner uncertain
Atlantic and East Carolina Railway	1	500
Bamberger Railroad	1	570	to Union Pacific 1270
Central Railroad of New Jersey	6	1200–1205
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway	2	5114–5115	5114 last numbered Baltimore & Ohio 9185 5115 last numbered Baltimore & Ohio 9186
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railway	4	115–118
Chicago and North Western Railway	6	1066–1069, 1080–1081
Chicago and Western Indiana Railroad	12	252–263
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road”)	5	1676, 1677, 961–963
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	11	735–745
Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway	8	100–107	to Soo Line Railroad 103 Owned By Algers, Winslow and Western Railway 104 Owned By Algers, Winslow and Western Railway
DuPont	4	105–108
Gaylord Container	2	302–303
GE-Atomic Energy Commission	4	39-3729 – 39-3732
Genesee and Wyoming Railroad	2	25, 30	25 was Bay Colony Railroad 1064 Current owner unknown
Grand Trunk Western Railway	2	1950–1951	Last RS-1s built for US Railroad 11/1957
Great Northern Railway	4	182–185	182 at West Coast Railway Heritage Park, Squamish, BC
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad	24	1102–1117, 1120–1127
Illinois Terminal Railroad	6	750–752, 754–756
Kansas City Southern Railway	4	1110–1113
Lake Erie, Franklin and Clarion Railroad	2	20–21
Lake Superior and Ishpeming Railroad	3	1001–1003
Long Island Rail Road	9	461–469
Midland Continental Railroad	2	401–402
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway	35	various	renumbered 200–234
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México	64	5606–5663, (5619–5624 twice)	5619–5621 (first) built by Montreal Locomotive Works. NdeM 5663 was the last RS-1 built 3/1960.
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad	12	0660–0671
New York Central Railroad	14	8100–8113	renumbered 9900–9913
New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway	16	230–256 (even numbers only), 231 and 233 (second)
Northern Pacific Railway	4	155–158	renumbered 800–803 157,802 Last numbered Burlington Northern 952 158,803 Last numbered Burlington Northern 953
Pennsylvania Railroad	27	5619–5640, 5906, 8485–8486, 8857–8858
Rutland Railroad	6	400–405	400 Owned By Maryland and Delaware Railroad 22, Currently Arkansas and Missouri Railroad 22
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (“Soo Line”)	4	350–353
Soo Line (Wisconsin Central Railway)	9	2360–2368
Spokane International Railroad	12	200–211
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway	2	50–51
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway (Oregon Electric Railway)	4	52–55
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company	3	602–604
United States Navy	1	6	renumbered 65-00078
Washington Terminal Company	25	40–64	46 Owned By Amtrak 46, Currently Massachusetts Central Railroad 46 47 Owned By Amtrak 47, Currently Tioga Central Railroad 47 out of service needs friction bearings 57 Owned By Black River and Western Railroad 57, then East Penn Railways 57, Currently East Penn Railroad 57 59 Owned by Essar Steel Algoma 59, Currently Southern Railroad of New Jersey 59
Arabian American Oil Company (Saudi Arabia)	6	A11x50, A11x51, 1002–1005
Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil	38	3100–3137	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
São Paulo Railway, (Brazil)	6	504–509	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) to Estrada de Ferro Santos a Jundiaí
Estrada de Ferro Santos a Jundiaí (Brazil)	2	510–511	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)

Preservation

Several examples exist at tourist railways and railway museums, including:

• Consumers Power (CPOX) 401 1951 built RS-1 #79350 former Rutland 401 spent her final years of service switching coal cars at Consumers Energy's Essexville, MI power plant on the Saginaw River the unit is now at the Saginaw Railway Museum.
• Grand Trunk Western 1951 (last domestic RS-1 produced serial number 82356) at the Illinois Railway Museum
• Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 745 (believed to be the oldest existing RS-1, and one of the replacements for the 13 taken by the U.S. Army) at the Louisiana Steam Train Association yard in Jefferson, LA
• Eastman Kodak Company 9 (built as Chicago & Western Indiana 260, sold to Genesee & Wyoming in 1971 and then to EKC) is preserved at the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum.
• Green Mountain Railroad 405 (former Rutland Railway 405, serial number 79575)
• Catskill Mountain Railroad #400 (out of service & under repair) and #401 (operating) tourist train in Kingston NY.
• Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway #101, the only known locomotive existing from that railroad, is at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and has been restored for occasional use on the North Shore Scenic Railroad.
• Ann Arbor Railroad #20 is owned by the Southern Michigan Railroad Society in Clinton, MI and on loan to Shepherd, MI Railroad Depot Museum and Display
• Ann Arbor Railroad #21 is owned by the Southern Michigan Railroad Society in Clinton, MI. #21 is set to undergo cosmetic and operational repairs and a return to operational status by the end of 2015.
• Soo Line 350 survives on display at the Whippany Railway Museum in New Jersey as Morristown & Erie 21.
• Former Washington Terminal 57 is privately owned and in storage on the East Penn Railroad at Quakertown, Pennsylvania.
• Great Northern 182 is on display at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish, British Columbia.
• Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific 743 is on display at the Oklahoma Railway Museum in Oklahoma City, OK.

See also

• List of ALCO diesel locomotives
• List of MLW diesel locomotives

References

• Alco RS1 Study-Part I The Original Road Switcher by Don Dover Extra 2200 South Issue #57 Jul-Sep 1976 pp.18-24.
• Alco RS1 Study-Part II The Original Road Switcher by Don Dover Extra 2200 South Issue #58 Oct-Dec 1976 pp.18-21.
• Alco RS1 Roster Part 1 by Bob Carman and Joe Brockmeyer Extra 2200 South Issue #58 Oct-Dec 1976 pp.22-23.
• Alco RS1 Study-Part III The Original Road Switcher by Don Dover Extra 2200 South Issue #59 Jan-Mar 1977 pp.24-26.

External links

Diesel Shop roster with all data from Extra 2200 South http://www.thedieselshop.us/Alco_RS1.HTML