The ALCO RS-3 is a , B-B diesel-electric locomotive manufactured from May 1950 to August 1956 by

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

(ALCO) and its subsidiary

Montreal Locomotive Works Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883 to 1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive ...

(MLW). A total of 1,418 were produced: 1,265 for

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

railroads, 98 for

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

railroads, 48 for

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian railroads, and seven for

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

railroads. The successor to the RS-1 and RS-2, the RS-3 was built with a single 12-cylinder ALCO Model 244 engine. The RS-3 greatly resembled the design and appearance of its predecessor, but had 100 more hp (1,600 hp) and some changes to the fuel system and body shape. Some had their engines replaced with more reliable EMD 567B engines, becoming RS-3ms. Much like the RS-1, many RS-3s served for decades; some are still in use as of 2022.

Variants

RSC-3: an RS-3 that used 3-axle trucks instead of 2-axle trucks. The middle axle on each truck was unpowered. This variant was designed for service on light track, as the extra axles better spread the weight of the locomotive.

Competition

ALCO built the RS-3 to compete with EMD, Fairbanks-Morse, and

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

. In 1949, EMD introduced the

EMD GP7 The EMD GP7 is a four-axle ( B-B) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October 1949 and May 1954.Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973) pp. 53 Power was provided by an EMD 567B 1 ...

. In 1950, Fairbanks-Morse introduced the H-16-44. Also in 1950, Baldwin introduced the

Baldwin AS-16 The BLH AS-16 was a diesel-electric locomotive rated at , that rode on two-axle trucks, having a B-B wheel arrangement. It was the successor to Baldwin's DRS-4-4-1500 model, and remained in production until Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton quit the locom ...

. In the case of ALCO, Fairbanks-Morse, and Baldwin, each company increased the power of an existing locomotive line from , and added more improvements to create new locomotive lines. All of this was to be more competitive with EMD. ALCO's line was the RS-2, although 31 were built in 1950 with . Fairbanks-Morse's line was the H-15-44. Baldwin's line was the

Baldwin DRS-4-4-1500 The Baldwin DRS-4-4-1500 was a diesel-electric locomotive of the road switcher type rated at , that rode on two-axle trucks, having a B-B wheel arrangement. It was manufactured by Baldwin Locomotive Works from 1947 until it was replaced in 1950 b ...

. EMD, however, kept its competing

GP7 The EMD GP7 is a four-axle ( B-B) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October 1949 and May 1954.Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973) pp. 53 Power was provided by an EMD 567B 16 ...

at . But in 1954, EMD introduced the GP9. It was rated at . In the end, EMD won the road switcher production race. EMD produced 2,729 GP7s. ALCO produced 377 RS-2s, and 1,418 RS-3s. Fairbanks-Morse produced 30 H-15-44s, and 296 H-16-44s. Baldwin produced 32 DRS-4-4-15s, and 127 AS-16s.

Exports

Brazil

In 1952 the

ian railway the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil purchased forty six new RS-3s from the

. Some are still active as work train engines for CPTM, Supervia, and CBTU – BH respectively São Paulo's, Rio de Janeiro's and Belo Horizonte's commuter railways. In Brazil these units were nicknamed Canadians or Hot Tails.

Spain

In 1964, the Spanish railway the Ferrocarril de Langreo purchased four RS-3s from the

Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis is a Class III switching and terminal railroad that handles traffic in the St. Louis, Missouri, metropolitan area. It is co-owned by five of the six Class I railroads that reach the city. Present ope ...

. A fifth unit, number 1604, was purchased in 1971 from the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a Mergers and acquisitions, merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the e ...

(BN), a piece of surplus Great Northern Railway stock from the 1970 merger that formed BN. The locomotives served until 1984, when the line was

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to .

References