ALCO RSD-15

The Alco RSD-15 was a diesel-electric locomotive of the road switcher type built by the American Locomotive Company of Schenectady, New York between August 1956 and June 1960, during which time 75 locomotives were produced. The RSD-15 was powered by an Alco 251 16-cylinder four-cycle V-type prime mover rated at 2,400 horsepower (1.79 MW); it superseded the almost identical Alco 244-engined RSD-7, and was catalogued alongside the similar but smaller 1,800 hp (1.34 MW) RSD-12, powered by a 12-cylinder 251-model V-type diesel engine.[2]

Alco RSD-15
Green Bay and Western 2407, preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder Alco Model DL600B Build date August 1956 - June 1960 Total produced 75
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR C-C  • UIC Co′Co′ Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Trucks Alco trimount Wheel diameter 40 in (1,016 mm) Length 66 ft 7 in (20.29 m)[1] Width 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) Height 14 ft 11 in (4.55 m) Loco weight 335,000 lb (151,953.4 kg) Fuel capacity 3,350 US gallons (12,700 l; 2,790 imp gal) Prime mover Alco 251B Engine type V16 Four-stroke diesel Generator GE GT586 Traction motors GE 752 (6x) Cylinders 16
Performance figures Maximum speed 65 mph (105 km/h) Power output 2,400 hp (1.79 MW) Tractive effort Starting: 95,600 lbf (425.2 kN) at 25% adhesion; Continuous: 79,500 lbf (353.6 kN) at 12 mph (19 km/h)

The locomotive rode on a pair of three-axle Trimount trucks with all axles powered by General Electric model 752 traction motors. These trucks have an asymmetrical axle spacing because of the positioning of the traction motors. The six-motor design allowed higher tractive effort at lower speeds than an otherwise similar four-motor design.

The RSD-15 could be ordered with either a high or low short hood; railfans dubbed the low short hood version "Alligators", due to their unusually long low noses.

RSD-17

A single example of the very similar model RSD-17 was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1957. After demonstrating on the Canadian Pacific (as #7007), the Canadian National (as #3899), and the Pacific Great Eastern (as #624), the locomotive was purchased by the Canadian Pacific (as #8921). Nicknamed "The Empress of Agincourt", by Pete Fairfull, who was its primary operator for many years, (for its common presence around Toronto's Agincourt yard), the locomotive served the railway until 1995, when truck problems forced its retirement.[3]

Original owners

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway	50	800–849	Low nose
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railroad	6	50–55	Later Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad 881-886 Cartier acquired the six units (91-96) 6/1972. All 6 units were converted to low hoods.
Pennsylvania Railroad	6	8611–8616	Later Penn Central 6811–6816. Conrail rebuilt four of them to MT6s 1125-1128. After the dividing of Conrail, 2 went to CSX as 1017 and 1018, and 2 went to Norfolk Southern as 1114 and 1115.
Southern Pacific Railroad	3	250–252	Low nose
St. Louis Southwestern Railway	10	5150–5159	Low nose
Canadian Pacific Railway	1	8921	RSD-17[3]

[2][4]

Surviving examples

RSD-17 locomotive in Elgin County Railway Museum, St. Thomas, Ontario.

Six RSD-15s survive in preservation; all are ex-Santa Fe units.[5] Only two are in operating condition; the Austin and Texas Central #442, originally ATSF 842, painted in a modified Southern Pacific "Black Widow" scheme,[6] and Green Bay and Western Railroad RSD-15 #2407 (originally ATSF 841) at the Illinois Railway Museum.[7] Others that are preserved are Santa Fe 823, in second owner Utah Railway colors at the Utah Railroad Museum, the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento has one (Santa Fe #9820)[8] and the Arkansas Railroad Museum has Santa Fe #843[9].

The RSD-17 demonstrator, Canadian Pacific 8921, is preserved at the Elgin County Railway Museum, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada.[3]

Models

The RSD-15 has been produced in N scale by Mehano of Yugoslavia.

The RSD-15 has been produced in HO scale by Broadway Limited Imports and handmade brass. Alco Models (DL600b) high and Low hoods. Also (Overland Models).[10]

The RSD-15 has been produced in O scale by Atlas O in their Trainman line.[11]

The RSD-17 has not been mass-produced in any scale.

See also

• List of Alco diesel locomotives
• List of MLW diesel locomotives

References

• Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha, WI (USA). ISBN 0-89024-258-5.

1. "ALCO RSD-15 Data Sheet". The Diesel Shop. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
2. Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-026-7.
3. "Elgin County Railway Museum...St. Thomas, Ontario...The Railway Capital of Canada". Retrieved 2009-04-14.
4. "ALCO RSD-15 Roster". The Diesel Shop. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
5. "Preserved ALCO Road-Switchers". The Diesel Shop. Archived from the original on 30 December 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
6. "Alco Diesel 442". Austin Steam Train. Archived from the original on 2006-10-08. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
7. Glischinski, Steve (1997). Santa Fe Railway. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International. p. 126. ISBN 978-0-7603-0380-1.
8. News, HeritageRail. "Inside the California State Railroad Museum". HeritageRail Alliance. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
9. http://arkansasrailroadmuseum.org/largeimages/SF843.JPG
10. "ALCO RSD-15". Broadway Limited Imports. Archived from the original on 2006-11-20. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
11. "ALCO RSD-15". Atlas O, LLC. Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-08.

External links

• Media related to ALCO RSD-15 locomotives at Wikimedia Commons