ALCO S-1 and S-3
The ALCO S-1 and S-3 were 660 horsepower (490 kW) switcher diesel-electric locomotives produced by ALCO and their Canadian subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). These two locomotive models differed only in that the earlier S-1 had ALCo#Blunt bogie trucks, while the later S-3 had AAR type A bogie trucks. The S-1 was built between April 1940 and June 1950, with a total of 543 completed, while the S-3 was constructed between February 1950 and November 1953 (MLW until 1957) with total sales of 300. A modified version, the S-10, was built by MLW only; 13 were built between January and June 1958.
ALCO S-1 and S-3 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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![]() Mid-Continent Railway No. 7, an S-1, rests between trains on October 10, 2004 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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[1][2] |
Identification
The S-1 and S-3 are distinguishable externally from the very similar S-2 and S-4 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) switchers in that they have a smaller exhaust stack with a round base and a smaller radiator shutter area on the nose sides. The S-1/S-3 radiator shutter area is taller than it is wide, while the S-2/S-4 radiator area is wider. The smaller stack is due to the lack of turbocharging.
The S-10 is not externally distinguishable from later Canadian-built S-3 locomotives; it differed mostly in electrical equipment.
Original owners
The S-1 and S-3 models were sold to an extensive list of railroads and industrial operators, as detailed below. Major owners of the S-1 included the New York Central Railroad (NYC), with 71 locomotives; the New Haven with 65 locomotives; the L&N with 45 locomotives; the C&NW, with 29 locomotives; and the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) with 27 locomotives. Major customers for the S-3 included the CP, with 101; the CN, with 49; the NYC, with 43 locomotives; the B&M, with 16; and the PRR, with 13. The MLW S-10 was sold only to the CP.
The totals below include export orders and MLW-built locomotives.
S-1
ALCO constructed approximately 535 S-1s for the US market between 1940–1950.[1][3]
Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers | |
---|---|---|---|
Alabama Great Southern Railroad | 2 | 6501–6502 | |
Alameda Belt Line | 3 | D-1–D-3 | |
Alco (demonstrator) | 1 | 660 | |
Alco (plant switcher) | 1 | 5 | |
Alco/War Department | 1 | GT-1304 | |
American Steel & Wire | 1 | 2 | |
Ann Arbor Railroad | 2 | 2–3 | |
ARMCO Steel | 3 | E106–E108 | |
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway | 2 | 2303–2304 | |
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad | 6 | 223–227, 250 | |
Belt Railway of Chicago | 3 | 304–306 | |
Birmingham Southern Railroad | 2 | 100, 101 | |
Boston and Maine Railroad | 10 | 1163–1172 | |
Broward County Port Authority | 1 | 410 | |
Canadian Car and Munitions | 1 | 5 | |
Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil | 5 | 3001–3005 | |
Central of Georgia Railway | 2 | 4, 6 | |
Central Railroad of New Jersey | 2 | 1024, 1025 | |
Champlain Paper and Fibre | 1 | 25 | |
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad | 3 | 103–105 | |
Chicago and North Western Railway | 29 | 1202–1205, 1213, 1223–1229, 1232–1236, 1247–1258 | |
Chicago Great Western Railway | 5 | 11–15 | |
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway | 3 | 56, 57, 69 | |
Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway | 2 | 6000–6001 | |
City of Prineville Railway | 1 | 101 | |
Donner Hanna Coal Company | 1 | 2 | |
Day and Zimmerman (Iowa Army Ammunition Depot) | 1 | 3-100 | |
Defense Plant Corporation | 2 | DPC25.23, DPC25.24 | |
Delray Connecting Railroad | 4 | 66, 68, 70, 72 | |
Des Moines Union Railway | 4 | 1–4 | |
Detroit and Mackinac Railway | 1 | 646 | |
East St. Louis Junction Railroad | 1 | 100 | |
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway | 5 | 213–217 | |
Erie Railroad | 16 | 306–321 | |
Ford Motor Company | 4 | 6601–6604 | |
Great Lakes Steel Corporation | 1 | 32 | |
Green Bay and Western Railroad | 1 | 102 | |
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad | 4 | 661–664 | |
Hunken Conkey Construction | 2 | 1001–1002 | |
Inland Steel | 7 | 53, 56, 61, 62, 64–66 | |
Inland Waterways Corporation | 1 | 1 | |
Iowa Transfer Railroad | 1 | 2 | |
John Morrell & Co. | 1 | 7 | |
Kansas City Terminal Railway | 5 | 40–44 | |
Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western Railroad | 1 | 103 | |
Lehigh Valley Railroad | 1 | 117 | |
Long Island Rail Road | 14 | 404–408, 413–420, 421 | |
Louisville and Nashville Railroad | 45 | 16–29, 34–68 | |
Maine Central Railroad | 8 | 953–960 | |
Massena Terminal Railroad | 2 | 8, 9 | |
Minnesota Transfer Railway | 5 | 60–64 | |
Missouri Pacific Railroad | 2 | 9007, 9008 | |
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway | 4 | 1–4 | |
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México | 5 | 5000-5004 | |
Newburgh and South Shore Railway | 7 | 3–7, 9, 10 | |
New Orleans and Lower Coast Railroad | 3 | 9013-9015 | |
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad | 65 | 0931–0995 | |
New Jersey, Indiana and Illinois Railroad | 1 | 1 | |
New York Central Railroad | 71 | 590, 685–744, 864–873 | |
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad | 1 | 85 | |
Northern Pacific Railway | 1 | 131 | |
Northern Pacific Terminal | 5 | 30–34 | |
Pennsylvania Railroad | 27 | 5661–5670, 5954–5956, 9100–9103, 9237–9246 | |
Point Comfort and Northern Railway | 1 | 5 | |
Port Huron and Detroit Railroad | 2 | 51, 52 | |
Portland Terminal Company | 4 | 1005-1008 | |
Procter & Gamble | 1 | 9 | |
Pullman Railroad | 2 | 20, 21 | |
Reading Company | 5 | 50-54 | |
Red River Ordnance Depot | 1 | 7372 | |
Republic Steel | 9 | 15–17, 312–314, D840, D841, D810 | |
River Terminal Railway | 1 | 52 | |
St. Louis and O'Fallon Railway | 1 | 51 | |
Seaboard Air Line | 1 | 1201 | |
Sheffield Steel Corporation | 3 | 11–13 | |
Solvay Processing Division, Allied Chemical | 3 | 1–3 | |
South Buffalo Railway | 4 | 51, 52, 60, 61 | |
Southern Pacific Company | 4 | 1017–1020 | |
Southern Railway | 3 | 2000, 2001, 2006 | |
South Omaha Terminal Railway | 5 | 1–5 | |
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway | 2 | 10, 11 | 10 Sold to City of Prineville 102, 11 to Burlington Northern 11 |
Steel Company of Wales (UK) | 5 | 801–805 | |
Studebaker | 2 | 2, 3 | |
Tennessee Central Railway | 1 | 51 | |
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company | 3 | 700–702 | |
Tennessee Copper | 2 | 104, 105 | |
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis | 4 | 521–524 | |
Texas and New Orleans Railroad | 1 | 10 | |
Texaco | 1 | 19 | |
Texas City Terminal Railway | 2 | 30, 31 | |
Texas Pacific-Missouri Pacific Terminal Railroad of New Orleans | 2 | 3, 4 | |
Timken Rolling Bearing Company | 2 | 5911, 5912 | |
Toledo, Angola and Western Railway | 1 | 101 | |
Traux Truer Coal | 1 | 10 | |
Union Railroad | 4 | 451–454 | |
Upper Merion and Plymouth Railroad | 1 | 54 | |
U.S. Army | 11 | 7132-7136, 7141-7142, 7374-7375, 7459-7460 | |
Wabash Railroad | 9 | 151–159 | |
Weirton Steel | 3 | 200, 203, 204 | |
Western Maryland Railway | 1 | 102 | |
Western Pacific Railroad | 8 | 504–511 | |
Youngstown Sheet and Tube | 5 | 661–665 | |
Total | 543 |
S-3
ALCO and the Montreal Locomotive Works constructed approximately 300 S-3s for the North American market between 1950–1957.[1][3]
Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers |
---|---|---|
Manufactured by ALCO | ||
Aluminum Company of America | 1 | 8 |
Ann Arbor Railroad | 4 | 4–7 |
Boston and Maine Railroad | 16 | 1173–1188 |
Brooks and Scanlon | 2 | 101, 102 |
Champion Paper | 1 | 2104 |
Chicago and North Western Railway | 6 | 1262–1267 |
Davenport, Rock Island and North Western Railway | 7 | 1–7 |
Davidson Chemical Division, W.R. Grace and Company | 1 | 101 |
El Dorado and Wesson Railway | 1 | 18 |
Ford Motor Company | 7 | 6605–6611 |
Frederick Snare Corporation | 1 | 7 |
General Portland Cement | 1 | 1 |
Graysonia, Nashville and Ashdown Railroad | 1 | 51 |
Greater Portland Public Development Corporation | 1 | 661 |
Humble Oil | 1 | 997 |
Louisville and Nashville Railroad | 7 | 69–75 |
Maine Central Railroad | 2 | 961, 962 |
Manistique and Lake Superior Railroad | 1 | 1 |
Mount Hood Railroad | 1 | 50 |
New York Central Railroad | 43 | 874–916 |
Pennsylvania Railroad | 13 | 8873–8885 |
Solvay Processing Division, Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation | 1 | 2 |
Southern Pacific Company | 10 | 1023–1032 |
Swift and Company | 1 | 664 |
Texas and Northern Railway | 2 | 3, 4 |
Texas City Terminal Railway | 1 | 32 |
Texaco | 2 | 21, 22 |
Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway | 1 | 30 |
West Pittston and Exeter Railway | 1 | 6 |
ALCO total | 137 | |
Manufactured by MLW | ||
Bathhurst Power and Paper | 1 | 3 |
Canadian Arsenals | 1 | 1 |
Canadian National Railway | 49 | 8450–8498 |
Canadian Pacific Railway | 101 | 6500–6600 |
Essex Terminal Railway | 1 | 103 |
LaSalle Coke | 1 | 4 |
National Harbours Board | 8 | D2–D9 |
Price Brothers | 1 | 106 |
MLW subtotal | 163 | |
Total | 300 |
S-10
MLW constructed 13 S-10s in 1958, all for the Canadian Pacific Railway.[3]. These units were essentially similar to late-built S3s, though with minor updates to the electrical gear.
Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers |
---|---|---|
Canadian Pacific Railway | 13 | 6601–6613 |
S-11
In 1959, MLW built a final order of 660 horsepower switchers for the Canadian Pacific, as model S-11. The internal machinery of these units was essentially the same as that of the S-10, but the car body was radically redesigned, with the radiator on the front end of the hood instead of on the sides. [4]
Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers |
---|---|---|
Canadian Pacific Railway | 10 | 6614–6623 |
In popular culture
At the end of the 1974 chase film Crazy Larry, Dirty Mary, the titular characters meet their end when they are hit by a train pulled by an S-1 locomotive.
Preservation
![](../I/m/S3_Diesel_Electric_Locomotive.jpg)
Numerous S-1 and S-3 locomotives remain in use, and several are preserved:
- Ex-U.S. Army S-1 No. 7372 is at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum and painted in Western Pacific colors.[5]
- Ex-Canadian Pacific MLW S-3 No. 6568 is at the Saskatchewan Railway Museum.[6]
References
- Foster, Gerald L. (1996). A Field Guide to Trains of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 6. ISBN 0-3957-0112-0.
- Dorin, Patrick C. (1972). Chicago and North Western Power. Burbank, California: Superior Publishing. pp. 134–135. ISBN 0-87564-715-4.
- Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. 221–222. ISBN 978-0-89024-026-7.
- Kirkland, John, "The Diesel Builders, volume 2: Also" Interurban Press, 1989
- "Western Pacific 512". Western Pacific Railroad Museum. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
- "Locomotives". Saskatchewan Railway Museum. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 28 November 2015.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to ALCO S-1 locomotives. |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to ALCO S-3 locomotives. |