The ALCO RS-3 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 whee ...

manufactured from May 1950 to August 1956 by

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) and its subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). A total of 1,418 were produced: 1,265 for American railroads, 98 for

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

railroads, 48 for

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian railroads, and seven for Mexican railroads. The successor to the RS-1 and RS-2, the RS-3 was built with a single 12-cylinder ALCO Model 244 engine. The RS-3 greatly resembled the design and appearance of its predecessor, but had 100 more hp (1,600 hp) and some changes to the fuel system and body shape. Some had their engines replaced with more reliable EMD 567B engines, becoming RS-3ms. Much like the RS-1, many RS-3s served for decades; some are still in use as of 2022.

Variants

RSC-3: an RS-3 that used 3-axle trucks instead of 2-axle trucks. The middle axle on each truck was unpowered. This variant was designed for service on light track, as the extra axles better spread the weight of the locomotive.

Competition

ALCO built the RS-3 to compete with EMD, Fairbanks-Morse, and Baldwin Locomotive Works. In 1949, EMD introduced the

EMD 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 ...

. In 1950, Fairbanks-Morse introduced the H-16-44. Also in 1950, Baldwin introduced the

Baldwin AS-16 The BLH AS-16 was a diesel-electric locomotive rated at , that rode on two-axle trucks, having a B-B wheel arrangement. It was the successor to Baldwin's DRS-4-4-1500 model, and remained in production until Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton quit the locom ...

. 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. All of this was to be more competitive with EMD. ALCO's line was the RS-2, although 31 were built in 1950 with . Fairbanks-Morse's line was the H-15-44. Baldwin's line was the

Baldwin DRS-4-4-1500 The Baldwin DRS-4-4-1500 was a diesel-electric locomotive of the road switcher type rated at , that rode on two-axle trucks, having a B-B wheel arrangement. It was manufactured by Baldwin Locomotive Works from 1947 until it was replaced in 1950 b ...

. EMD, however, kept its competing GP7 at . But in 1954, EMD introduced the

GP9 The EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1954 and 1959. The GP9 succeeded the GP7 as the second model of EMD's General Purpose (GP) line, incorporating a new sixteen-cylind ...

. It was rated at . In the end, EMD won the road switcher production race. EMD produced 2,729 GP7s. ALCO 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-4-4-15s, and 127 AS-16s.

Exports

Brazil

In 1952 the

ian railway the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil purchased forty six new RS-3s from the Montreal Locomotive Works. Some are still active as work train engines for CPTM, Supervia, and CBTU – BH respectively São Paulo's, Rio de Janeiro's and Belo Horizonte's commuter railways. In Brazil these units were nicknamed Canadians or Hot Tails.

Spain

In 1964, the Spanish railway the Ferrocarril de Langreo purchased four RS-3s from the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. A fifth unit, number 1604, was purchased in 1971 from the Burlington Northern Railroad (BN), a piece of surplus Great Northern Railway stock from the 1970 merger that formed BN. The locomotives served until 1984, when the line was

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to .

References