The ALCO RS-2 is a B-B diesel-electric locomotive built by 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 ...

(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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pr ...

four stroke V12 with a bore and

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

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

, and 9 by ALCO 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 Locomot ...

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 to ...

. 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, 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 ...

. 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 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 ...

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 The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...

rebuilt 13 of its RS-2s for passenger service, including on the '' Laurentian''. The D&H added a steam generator and water tank.

Original owners

ALCO and

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 at Portola, California. KCC 908 once served the mines out of Ely, Nevada along the Nevada Northern Railway. 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 (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) 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