The ALCO RS-2 is a B-B

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...

built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) from 1946 to 1950. ALCO introduced the model after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

as an improvement on the

ALCO RS-1 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. ALCO subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works built an additional three RS-1s in 1954. This model has ...

. Between 1946 and 1950, 377 examples of the RS-2 were built, primarily for American and Canadian customers. ALCO discontinued the RS-2 in 1950 in favor of the very similar RS-3, which was significantly more popular. Several examples have been preserved.

Design and development

The RS-2 was a further development of the road switcher concept. It had more horsepower than the RS-1, to better meet the needs of heavy road service. Externally, the RS-2 bodywork was more rounded, while mechanically the new 244 engine was introduced. A turbocharged

four stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...

V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

with a bore and stroke developing 1,500 (later 1,600) hp at 1,000 rpm, it had a smaller cylinder, higher cylinder speed design than the 539 used in the RS-1. Production of the RS-2 was delayed several months while Alco worked out the new four pipe divided low rise manifold for the GE constant pressure RD-1 turbocharger. The 244 engine was not a reliable design, however, and was replaced in less than ten years by the Alco 251 engine.

History

377 locomotives were produced — 368 by the American Locomotive Company, and 9 by ALCO subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Eight of the ALCO RS-2s were exported to Canada. The RS-2 has a single, 12 cylinder, model 244B engine, developing . Thirty-one locomotives built by Alco between February and May 1950 were instead powered by a 12 cylinder 244C engine. ALCO built the RS-2 to compete with EMD,

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

, and Baldwin Locomotive Works. In 1947, Fairbanks-Morse introduced the H-15-44. Also in that year, Baldwin introduced the DRS-4-4-1500. 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. EMD, however, kept its competing GP7 at . In 1954, EMD introduced the GP9. It was rated at . EMD produced 2,734 GP-7s. ALCO/MLW 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-4-4-1500s, and 127 AS-16s. The Delaware and Hudson Railway rebuilt 13 of its RS-2s for passenger service, including on the '' Laurentian''. The D&H added a

steam generator A Steam generator is a device used to boil water to create steam. More specifically, it may refer to: *Boiler (steam generator), a closed vessel in which water is heated under pressure *Monotube steam generator *Supercritical steam generator or Ben ...

and water tank.

Original owners

ALCO and Montreal Locomotive Works in

built 377 locomotives. Cited and mirrored roster

Survivors

Very few RS-2s survive today. Three former Kennecott Copper locomotives are preserved, including Kennecott Copper 908 (former number 104) at the

Western Pacific Railroad Museum The Western Pacific Railroad Museum (WPRM) in Portola, California, known as the Portola Railroad Museum until January 1, 2006, is a heritage railroad and archives that preserves and operates historic American railroad equipment and preserves docu ...

Portola, California Portola ( ) is the only incorporated city in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census, down from 2,227 at the 2000 census. Portola is located on the Middle Fork of the Feather River and was named afte ...

. KCC 908 once served the mines out of

Ely, Nevada Ely (, ) is the largest city and county seat of White Pine County, Nevada, United States. Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express and Central Overland Route. In 1906 copper was discovered. Ely's mining boom came later tha ...

along the

Nevada Northern Railway The Nevada Northern Railway was a railroad in the U.S. state of Nevada, built primarily to reach a major copper producing area in White Pine County, Nevada. The railway, constructed in 1905–06, extended northward about from Ely to connection ...

. Nevada Northern 105 is at Ely, Nevada, it was formerly the Kennecott Copper 105. Kennecott Copper 103 is at the San Diego Railroad Museum in Campo, California. It is painted as Santa Fe 2098. Another RS-2 is in active service on the

Texas State Railroad The Texas State Railroad is a historic heritage railroad between Rusk and Palestine, Texas. Built by inmates, it was founded in 1883 by the state of Texas to haul raw materials for a smelter at the prison at Rusk. Regular service on the line was ...

(rebuilt as an RS-2-CAT). It is the former Union Railroad 608. The first production RS-2, originally sold to the Detroit & Mackinac RR as their number 466, was fully operable in freight service on the

Michigan Southern Railroad (1989) The Michigan Southern Railroad , founded in 1989 and owned by Pioneer Railcorp since 1999, operates a portion of the former Michigan Southern Railroad (1846-1855) between White Pigeon and Sturgis, Michigan, United States. At White Pigeon, the lin ...

until a few years ago. As of September 2005, the 466 was stored out of service near the Michigan Southern's office in White Pigeon, Michigan, it was finally scrapped in December 2011. The former Detroit & Mackinac 469 was sold to Waymore Power and may be restored. The former Elgin Joliet and Eastern 801 is preserved in Jala, Mexico as a Las Encinas SA de CV 801. And MLW built Roberval and Saguenay 20 is at the Canadian Railway Museum.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * Steinbrenner, Richard T. (2003). The American Locomotive Company: A Centennial Remembrance. On Track Publishers LLC, New Brunswick, NJ. . Chapters IX, X, and XI. {{MLW diesels B-B locomotives RS-2 RS-2 Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1946 Standard gauge locomotives of Canada Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Diesel-electric locomotives of Canada