The MLW RS-18 was an

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 ...

built by

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 ...

between December 1956 and August 1968. It replaced the RS-10 in MLW's catalogue, and production totalled 351 locomotives, to eight customers. It was the Canadian version of the

ALCO RS-11 The ALCO RS-11 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive rated at , that rode on two-axle trucks, having a B-B wheel arrangement. This model was built by both Alco (327 units) and Montreal Locomotive Works (99 units). Total production was 426 uni ...

, although MLW did manufacture the RS-11 for

Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (better known as N de M and especially in its final years as FNM) was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 (dating from the regime of Porfirio Díaz), a major railroad con ...

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

, by far the largest buyer of the RS-18, continued to specify the

long hood The long hood of a hood unit-style diesel locomotive is, as the name implies, the longer of the two hoods (narrower sections of the locomotive body in front and behind of the cab) on a locomotive, particularly American-type freight locomotives. ...

as the front. By contrast, while all of

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

's RS-10s were long-hood-forward, all of their RS-18s were short-hood forward. All of CN and CP's locomotives were delivered with full-height short hoods, as were the first four

Pacific Great Eastern Railway The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, and first

Roberval and Saguenay Railway The Roberval and Saguenay Railway is a small railway company, wholly owned by Rio Tinto Alcan, a mining corporation. It carries raw ore materials in portions of northern Quebec in eastern Canada. With about of track in total, it also reaches ...

unit. The remaining production was for locomotives with a low short-hood, giving the train crew much better forward vision.

Original owners

Preserved

West Chester Railroad The West Chester Railroad is a privately owned and operated tourist railroad that runs between Market Street in West Chester, Pennsylvania, in Chester County, and the village of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, in Delaware County. It operates on of ...

#1803 is an ALCO RS-18 built in 1960 by the

for the

and was numbered 8762 . In 1998 it was retired from service by the Canadian Pacific Railroad and was bought by the West Chester Railroad that same year. It was re-numbered as 1803 and repainted into a Brunswick green with a yellow frame stripe. It is currently in service.

References

External links

* {{diesel-loco-stub B-B locomotives

RS-18 The RS-18 is a reconfigured version of the Rocketdyne Lunar Module Ascent Engine (LMAE), modified to burn liquid oxygen (LOX) and liquid methane (CH4) for NASA's Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS) engine testing in 2008. Development ...

Railway locomotives introduced in 1956 Standard gauge locomotives of Canada

Original owners

Preserved

See also

References

External links