The Ingalls 4-S was an experimental American

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

built by

Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and at 12,500 ...

immediately after World War II. Intended as the first of many Ingalls-built locomotives, it was the only one the company built. It served on the

Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad The Gulf, Mobile and Ohio was a Class I railroad in the central United States whose primary routes extended from Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana, to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, as well as Chicago, Illinois. From its two pa ...

(GM&O) until it was retired in 1966; it was scrapped the following year.

Design and development

At the end of World War II,

, based in

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...

, developed plans for a line of

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

s to serve the expected post-war market. Five models were projected; the first, and as it proved only, to be built was a prototype of the largest, the model 4-S.''GM&O Historical Society News'', Issue #42, 1986. Vi
National Model Railroad Association, Pacific Coast Region
Retrieved 2012-01-17. A single demonstrator was planned in December 1945, and built in March 1946, numbered #1500. The design of the locomotive was considered advanced, including a "turret cab" arrangement, which improved the crew's vision. The

prime mover Prime mover may refer to: Philosophy *Unmoved mover, a concept in Aristotle's writings Engineering * Prime mover (engine), motor, a machine that converts various other forms of energy (chemical, electrical, fluid pressure/flow, etc) into energy o ...

selected for the locomotive was the inline-8 65LX8, based on a marine

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

built by Superior Engines & Compressors; and modified for railroad use by

Cooper-Bessemer Cooper-Bessemer refers to the Cooper-Bessemer Corporation and the Cooper-Bessemer brand of industrial engines and compressors, manufactured in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The Cooper-Bessemer Corporation was formed when C. & G. Cooper (founded in 1833) an ...

, and

Elliott Company Elliott Company designs, manufactures, installs, and services turbo-machinery for Tractor unit, prime movers and rotating machinery. Headquartered in Jeannette, Pennsylvania, Elliott Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Japan-based company ...

providing the turbocharger. The 4-S produced , of which was available for the production of tractive effort by the locomotive's electric drive, but marketed as 1,500 horsepower. Provision was made for the installation of 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 ...

for passenger service. The locomotive was equipped with connections for

multiple unit A multiple-unit train or simply multiple unit (MU) is a self-propelled train composed of one or more carriages joined together, which when coupled to another multiple unit can be controlled by a single driver, with multiple-unit train contr ...

operation.

Operational service

The 4-S demonstrator was tested by a number of railroads, including the

Louisville and Nashville The Louisville and Nashville Railroad , commonly called the L&N, was a Class I railroad that operated freight and passenger services in the southeast United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1850, the road grew into one of the ...

Seaboard Air Line The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad which existed from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, t ...

Mississippi Export Railroad The Mississippi Export Railroad (MSE) is a 42-mile shortline railroad founded in 1922 which operates in the state of Mississippi from Pascagoula to Evanston. The company owns a North-South line between its two termini, along which it interchange ...

, Gulf, Mobile and Ohio, and the Southern Railway; however no orders materialized for the type, or for any other of Ingalls' proposed locomotives. The lack of orders combined with issues with the supply of components resulted in Ingalls electing to abandon its plans for locomotive construction; the sole 4-S was the only locomotive they ever built. It was sold to the

for US$140,000 in June 1946, where it received the road number 1900. The 4-S served with the GM&O, operating primarily from

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...

, to

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

, but also served around

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

and

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

. It was used in switching duty, earning a reputation for toughness; it once derailed, landing inverted, but was repaired and returned to service in short order. In 1966, the railroad traded it in to EMD as partial payment for new SD40s. It was offered to the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview Histo ...

for US$3,000, but the museum was unable to raise the funds. When no other buyers materialized, it was sold to Pielet Brothers in 1967, where it was scrapped.

References

{{reflist5. ^ Rutherford , R. C. (2013). ''Ingalls Shipbuilding (1949)''. The Diesel Shop. Retrieved November 9, 2022, from https://www.thedieselshop.us/Ingalls_Flyer.pdf B-B locomotives Ingalls Shipbuilding locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad Railway locomotives introduced in 1946 Experimental locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Individual locomotives of the United States Scrapped locomotives Unique locomotives