Alco-GE was a partnership between the
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 ...
and
General Electric
General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable ene ...
that lasted from 1940 to 1953.
Their main competitor was
EMD.
Arrangement
Alco produced
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the 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, railcar or power car; the ...
bodies and prime movers while GE supplied the electrical gear. ALCo had previously partnered with GE and
Ingersoll-Rand
Ingersoll Rand is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technologies) ...
to produce the first successful line of diesel-electric switch engines from 1924 to 1928. In forming the Alco-GE partnership, GE sought to expand the market for their electrical equipment after EMD started producing their own while ALCo gained GE's support in terms of marketing and service infrastructure, areas in which EMD had a formidable advantage.
Achievements
Notable locomotives produced by Alco-GE were the
RS-1, the first
road switcher, and
UP 50, a prototype
gas turbine-electric locomotive.
Alco-GE attained a 26% share of the market for diesel locomotives as of 1946, mainly for switching and short-haul applications, but they could not crack EMD's dominant position in mainline locomotives.
Alco's development of higher powered engines for such locomotives had not been satisfactory and EMD's introduction of the
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 ...
road-switcher in 1949 threatened Alco-GE's position in their most advantageous market.
Dissolution
GE dissolved the partnership in 1953 to develop and build their own locomotives. Alco still received electrical gear from GE, but only as a customer and not a corporate partner. GE took over the gas turbine-electric venture in 1953 and during the early 1960s would replace Alco as EMD's strongest competitor in the North American market. Alco went out of business in 1969.
References
Defunct locomotive manufacturers of the United States
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