ALCOs RS 1,2,and 😁 are my favorite and best versatile 🚂 locomotives. They can go either directions, each ends considered the front of the 🚂 locomotives.
The RS's are my favorite engines on my model rr. Now that all engine bodies are sharp edge, these soft edge loco's are a pleasure to look at. Sad Alco, once so great, is no longer around. If you want to see more of these in action, look up Matty Gunn's videos. Thanks for the history and the vintage photos.
This taken from Wikipedia: "The ALCO RS-3m is a diesel-electric locomotive rebuilt from an ALCO RS-3 road switcher. These 98 locomotives were rebuilt to replace their original ALCO prime mover with the more reliable EMD 567B engine and fan assemblies taken from retired E8s.[1] Many of these rebuilds were performed by the ex NYC DeWitt shop with 56 completed at the ex PRR Juniata shop. The RS3m rebuild program started in 1972 and continued until 1978 under Conrail.[2][3][4]" I don't know quite how I feel about having EMD E8 prime movers in these Locomotives however, being that my next favorite Locomotives are the EMD FL-9 and the GP7,9, I guess I can get on board with it but don't hold me to it. The Housatonic RR in CT had one such Locomotive built in April 1951. However, I'd surely miss the throbbing ALCO prime movers!
That piece of film early in the video of the locomotive factory line was extraordinary. To imagine 20 of the same locomotives being built at the same time in various stages of completion is hard to fathom. These days it takes years to renavate one locomotive.
RSD-1 was Josef Stalin's favorite locomotive, in fact one pulled his funeral train, and that very locomotive is in preservation, also it was cloned by the Russians as the TEM2 class and TEM3 which can still be found all over European ex Soviet states and almost all other soviet diesels including the "Taiga Drum" locomotives.
My all time Favorite Locomotive since 1965, the NY,NH&HRR had 15 RS-2s and 35 RS-3s. Ironically, I saw only one RS-3 on a summer day in 1971 when it trundled backward down the Yard Lead from Cedar Hill Yard to rescue a stalled Oil drag weekly Train out of Belle Dock. I've seen videos of RS-3s in charge of short Passenger Trains out of Berlin on the Springfield line and the RMNE had one retired New Haven RS-3 as it's Main Locomotive in the late '80's which I believe is still there along with a Sister and two units from Amtrak and Boston & Maine. The Catskill Railroad, a Tourist Line in Kingston NY has two RS-2s, one in service and one for parts along with the Battenkill RR in Greenwich NY has a pair of RS-3s from VTR and the D&H in mainline service daily.
thaanks for a very intresting video on the alco rs series switchers. in sweden we have rs deisel eletric locos from the late 60 ties to early to mid 70 ties. they are stil in use by the state ownd green cargo. This type of rs here in sweden was built by nohab. keep up the good work on you videos . 🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪👍👍👍👍
The 244 was a perfectly fine engine as long as you did not blow it up on purpose many railroads had Alco locomotives with 244 engines in them for decades 539 It could only make so much horsepower which is why they went to the 251. The 244 engine locomotive became the basis for the Indian State Railways and the national Railways of Russia. So it could not have been that bad
I found that to be true in Brazil too as the RS-1s, RS-3s, S-1s and RSD-12s lasted without any major hiccups until the late 90s early 2000s with their original engines but from what I've learned from crossing info from the railroaders here and the ones I know in the US we also have a higher maintenance standard than your average US railroad, not by much though. The only big F up ALCo did here was with the RSC-3s which originally came with air cooled turbochargers who would often fail under the daily humidity and heat. We often joke that "brazilian ALCo's are weird, they don't smoke like ALCo's."
@@fernandomarques5166 the General Electric supplied turbochargers that were air-cooled for the rs.1 were problematic. The water cooled turbos for much more reliable. If a locomotive failed because of the turbocharger everyone would blame the locomotive when it's really a supplier part that went bad.
@@fernandomarques5166 I was not aware that Alcoa continues air-cooled turbo chargers on other locomotive. Irish under the impression from what I read that the water-cooled turbocharger by-and-large replace the unreliable air-cooled one. Learn something new everyday
While it is true that some railroads got a lot of life out of the 244, particularly if the if the company in question, maintained the 244 in question, to the sprit not the letter of factory requirements and 244 in question was built when Alco was NOT forcing them out the door to meet production quotas, it was still, at least in its early form, a badly flawed prime mover thanks to it being rushed through its development phase. That said, the 250 or 244H that came out as a drop in replacement in the early 50's for the earlier 244 versions, was much more reliable and is what the prime mover should have been when it was initially produced. Many of Alco's locomotives got this version prime mover installed as a warranty repair, so that when they went on to second lives as used locomotives they functioned notably better. Other locomotives had them new form the factory. Theses factors are, at least in my opinion, why some companies had good luck with these prime movers and some did not. Thanks for watching!
Let us not forget here that all the money that people put into war bonds became worthless with the hyperinflation that happened after the war when Stalin screwed the Americans out of 11 billion dollars worth of a that they did not pay for and that's why everything that was a nickel before the war became $0.15 after the war. That caused the Great Railroad Strike. Many companies wanted to continue to pay pre-war wages at post-war prices.
Interesting as always. You shortly mentioned the 6 axle RSD-1 variant for use by the Trans Iranian Railway in WW2. maybe you can do a separate video on these, and talk about the locomotives ending up in the Soviet Union as class Da-20 and the Soviet follow up classes. The Soviets developed this class into the locally bult classes TE-1, TEM-1 and TEM-2, with many of the TEM-2 running up to this day. In general the export products of the US and Canadian locomotive industry and maybe also their licensees gives enough material to produce videos for the next 25 years. Also worth of note, the steam locomotive at 1:51 is a Pershing 2-8-0 built for the European war theatre during WW1, hence the U.S.A. markings on the tender. That locomotive has some European details like the cab and footplate shape, and the French style smokebox door, they were used by the US Transportation corps mainly in France and many of these were sold to France after the war ended. The picture shows a Pershing being used on home soil probably prior to shipment to Europe, or never being sent abroad. Right before loading on the ship to Europe the front foot board and couplers would be removed and European style shackle and hook couplers and buffers would be fitted after arrival.
You are incorrect about the two stroke locomotive Deisel, that absolutely had a normal lube oil system. These are not like motorcycle or chainsaw engines. No mixing of lube oil with fuel.
That's a pretty nice vídeo. Over here in my country there are still some of those old warriors in use, working on MOW teains. All the units were reengined with 251s in the late 1970s (but no frane problems are known to exist). These are really rare, since they're RSCs (4 RSC2'S and one RSC3). Here's a video depucting one of these units at work. It's a little old, but the loco us still in service, and it has been recently msintained, and now even gas a different painr scheme than the one shown in the vídeo. Its kept in top shape, as One can understand by the engine chant. It really does not shows its age (built in 1948). ua-cam.com/video/bV5NnI0Ii7I/v-deo.html
When you say "air cooled turbocharger" and "water cooled turbocharger" do you mean that the turbocharger itself is cooled via those means, or that the INTERCOOLER is air/water cooled? Do locomotives even have intercoolers (GEVOs do)? I always figured the turbocharger was inherently cooled by its oil supply.
Enjoyed this video, lots of great information; but I am wondering since many railroad used the RS units in passenger service with a steam generator in the short hood, why did WM and LV (and Pennsy too I believe) have what was referred to as the Hammerhead short hood? What made their steam generators so much different to the Rock Island and others with steam generators?
If i remember correctly, the Hamme heads were rebuilt RS-3's, with EMD prime movers, with the hammerhead section it self, housing dynamic brake erumpent..
@@alcobufff thanks for your reply. At the same time as I posted my question to you yesterday, I posted one on the WMRHS FB page where I’m a member. Several members answered that on the RS units the standard short hood could accommodate a steam generator or dynamic breaks, but not both. The Hammerhead units were those that had both a steam generator and dynamic breaks. Additionally, I knew that none of the WM units were rebuilt with EMD prime movers, but WM unit 192 did end up with a supercharger at some point in its career.
I’m trying to make a US army rsd-1 with the running system from an atlas rsd-4 and the shell from an rs-1. Does anyone have any pointers or tips on how I could do this?
wouldnt it have been cool if ALCO merged with GE, or EMD, and were still producing locomotives? good reliable units. like say the Century series, a modern ALCO C 44-3 ACE? 4400 HP AC/DC traction motors tier 4 emissions lashed with AC 4400s, or with ES44DC, or SD70MAC? if only they could have held out,, ALCO could still be a competitor with GMD and GE.
You're cheap-shotting Engine-Charley Wilson when you misquote him saying "What good for General Motors is good for the country". He also went on to say in the same quote "...and what's good for the country is good for General Motors". It was a statement acknowledging the interdependence of GM's success and America's growth.
EMD swap was the grandfather move of the LS swap😋🚂🇨🇦🇺🇲🙋
The RS3 is the Brazil's oldest locomotive made in 1952
ALCOs RS 1,2,and 😁 are my favorite and best versatile 🚂 locomotives. They can go either directions, each ends considered the front of the 🚂 locomotives.
Great comparison vid. The best road switchers ever produced. The master of all trades.
I've always loved the look of the RS-2 and RS-3.
I cant say much where i work but i can and sometimes put you on while im at my assembly bench while building parts for the locomotive industry.
The RS's are my favorite engines on my model rr. Now that all engine bodies are sharp edge, these soft edge loco's are a pleasure to look at. Sad Alco, once so great, is no longer around. If you want to see more of these in action, look up Matty Gunn's videos. Thanks for the history and the vintage photos.
This taken from Wikipedia: "The ALCO RS-3m is a diesel-electric locomotive rebuilt from an ALCO RS-3 road switcher. These 98 locomotives were rebuilt to replace their original ALCO prime mover with the more reliable EMD 567B engine and fan assemblies taken from retired E8s.[1] Many of these rebuilds were performed by the ex NYC DeWitt shop with 56 completed at the ex PRR Juniata shop. The RS3m rebuild program started in 1972 and continued until 1978 under Conrail.[2][3][4]" I don't know quite how I feel about having EMD E8 prime movers in these Locomotives however, being that my next favorite Locomotives are the EMD FL-9 and the GP7,9, I guess I can get on board with it but don't hold me to it. The Housatonic RR in CT had one such Locomotive built in April 1951. However, I'd surely miss the throbbing ALCO prime movers!
Disagree with the looks on the RS-1, it's one of the most beautiful diesel locomotives ever produced, largely attributed to the cab roof overhang.
Alco RslS 1,2 and 3s also C420 s served the LIRR very well , They were great locomotives .
You also ever talked about the C855 or DH643?
Great vidio, about to rebuild my RS 3 and have seen many great details to work around with. Thanks for the coffee...
Growing up in the 1960s as a model railroad nut, RS was my favourite power but Athearn didn't make one ;(
Great job as usual, love my o gauge rs1 GMO prime mover sounds and I keep smoke turned up
DeWitt shops were in Syracuse NY
Great historic video. Thanks for sharing
Another way of saying " What's good for the goose, Is what's good for the gander".
Many Thanks for this excellent video!
Wow ... Thank You for the VERY COOL VIDEO ... I had to watch it twice!!!
Hey hey! WNYP railroad!! Big fan! Runs near me!
Thanks alco diesel guy, we always love your content '
That piece of film early in the video of the locomotive factory line was extraordinary. To imagine 20 of the same locomotives being built at the same time in various stages of completion is hard to fathom. These days it takes years to renavate one locomotive.
RSD-1 was Josef Stalin's favorite locomotive, in fact one pulled his funeral train, and that very locomotive is in preservation, also it was cloned by the Russians as the TEM2 class and TEM3 which can still be found all over European ex Soviet states and almost all other soviet diesels including the "Taiga Drum" locomotives.
My all time Favorite Locomotive since 1965, the NY,NH&HRR had 15 RS-2s and 35 RS-3s. Ironically, I saw only one RS-3 on a summer day in 1971 when it trundled backward down the Yard Lead from Cedar Hill Yard to rescue a stalled Oil drag weekly Train out of Belle Dock. I've seen videos of RS-3s in charge of short Passenger Trains out of Berlin on the Springfield line and the RMNE had one retired New Haven RS-3 as it's Main Locomotive in the late '80's which I believe is still there along with a Sister and two units from Amtrak and Boston & Maine. The Catskill Railroad, a Tourist Line in Kingston NY has two RS-2s, one in service and one for parts along with the Battenkill RR in Greenwich NY has a pair of RS-3s from VTR and the D&H in mainline service daily.
Yay NYNH&H! The RS3 is also my favorite. Probably cuz I spent so much time with them.
I think they look great.
thaanks for a very intresting video on the alco rs series switchers.
in sweden we have rs deisel eletric locos from the late 60 ties to early to mid 70 ties.
they are stil in use by the state ownd green cargo.
This type of rs here in sweden was built by nohab.
keep up the good work on you videos .
🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪👍👍👍👍
They're gorgeous, leave them alone... 😪
great story I enjoyed the video.
Was nice to see a pic of one at Vermont St. In Blue Island! 20:25
The 244 was a perfectly fine engine as long as you did not blow it up on purpose many railroads had Alco locomotives with 244 engines in them for decades 539 It could only make so much horsepower which is why they went to the 251. The 244 engine locomotive became the basis for the Indian State Railways and the national Railways of Russia. So it could not have been that bad
I found that to be true in Brazil too as the RS-1s, RS-3s, S-1s and RSD-12s lasted without any major hiccups until the late 90s early 2000s with their original engines but from what I've learned from crossing info from the railroaders here and the ones I know in the US we also have a higher maintenance standard than your average US railroad, not by much though.
The only big F up ALCo did here was with the RSC-3s which originally came with air cooled turbochargers who would often fail under the daily humidity and heat.
We often joke that "brazilian ALCo's are weird, they don't smoke like ALCo's."
@@fernandomarques5166 the General Electric supplied turbochargers that were air-cooled for the rs.1 were problematic. The water cooled turbos for much more reliable. If a locomotive failed because of the turbocharger everyone would blame the locomotive when it's really a supplier part that went bad.
@@frankmarkovcijr5459 But the ones that failed were the air cooled ones on the RSC-3 which were made by ALCo themselves not GE
@@fernandomarques5166 I was not aware that Alcoa continues air-cooled turbo chargers on other locomotive. Irish under the impression from what I read that the water-cooled turbocharger by-and-large replace the unreliable air-cooled one. Learn something new everyday
While it is true that some railroads got a lot of life out of the 244, particularly if the if the company in question, maintained the 244 in question, to the sprit not the letter of factory requirements and 244 in question was built when Alco was NOT forcing them out the door to meet production quotas, it was still, at least in its early form, a badly flawed prime mover thanks to it being rushed through its development phase. That said, the 250 or 244H that came out as a drop in replacement in the early 50's for the earlier 244 versions, was much more reliable and is what the prime mover should have been when it was initially produced. Many of Alco's locomotives got this version prime mover installed as a warranty repair, so that when they went on to second lives as used locomotives they functioned notably better. Other locomotives had them new form the factory. Theses factors are, at least in my opinion, why some companies had good luck with these prime movers and some did not.
Thanks for watching!
Let us not forget here that all the money that people put into war bonds became worthless with the hyperinflation that happened after the war when Stalin screwed the Americans out of 11 billion dollars worth of a that they did not pay for and that's why everything that was a nickel before the war became $0.15 after the war. That caused the Great Railroad Strike. Many companies wanted to continue to pay pre-war wages at post-war prices.
Drove those on BCRail lots.
Interesting as always.
You shortly mentioned the 6 axle RSD-1 variant for use by the Trans Iranian Railway in WW2.
maybe you can do a separate video on these, and talk about the locomotives ending up in the Soviet Union as class Da-20 and the Soviet follow up classes.
The Soviets developed this class into the locally bult classes TE-1, TEM-1 and TEM-2, with many of the TEM-2 running up to this day.
In general the export products of the US and Canadian locomotive industry and maybe also their licensees gives enough material to produce videos for the next 25 years.
Also worth of note, the steam locomotive at 1:51 is a Pershing 2-8-0 built for the European war theatre during WW1, hence the U.S.A. markings on the tender.
That locomotive has some European details like the cab and footplate shape, and the French style smokebox door, they were used by the US Transportation corps mainly in France and many of these were sold to France after the war ended.
The picture shows a Pershing being used on home soil probably prior to shipment to Europe, or never being sent abroad.
Right before loading on the ship to Europe the front foot board and couplers would be removed and European style shackle and hook couplers and buffers would be fitted after arrival.
The Santa 🎅 Fe had one RS 2 number 2099 . Is it still available??
You are incorrect about the two stroke locomotive Deisel, that absolutely had a normal lube oil system. These are not like motorcycle or chainsaw engines. No mixing of lube oil with fuel.
That's a pretty nice vídeo.
Over here in my country there are still some of those old warriors in use, working on MOW teains. All the units were reengined with 251s in the late 1970s (but no frane problems are known to exist). These are really rare, since they're RSCs (4 RSC2'S and one RSC3). Here's a video depucting one of these units at work. It's a little old, but the loco us still in service, and it has been recently msintained, and now even gas a different painr scheme than the one shown in the vídeo. Its kept in top shape, as One can understand by the engine chant. It really does not shows its age (built in 1948).
ua-cam.com/video/bV5NnI0Ii7I/v-deo.html
When you say "air cooled turbocharger" and "water cooled turbocharger" do you mean that the turbocharger itself is cooled via those means, or that the INTERCOOLER is air/water cooled? Do locomotives even have intercoolers (GEVOs do)? I always figured the turbocharger was inherently cooled by its oil supply.
Enjoyed this video, lots of great information; but I am wondering since many railroad used the RS units in passenger service with a steam generator in the short hood, why did WM and LV (and Pennsy too I believe) have what was referred to as the Hammerhead short hood? What made their steam generators so much different to the Rock Island and others with steam generators?
If i remember correctly, the Hamme heads were rebuilt RS-3's, with EMD prime movers, with the hammerhead section it self, housing dynamic brake erumpent..
@@alcobufff thanks for your reply. At the same time as I posted my question to you yesterday, I posted one on the WMRHS FB page where I’m a member. Several members answered that on the RS units the standard short hood could accommodate a steam generator or dynamic breaks, but not both. The Hammerhead units were those that had both a steam generator and dynamic breaks. Additionally, I knew that none of the WM units were rebuilt with EMD prime movers, but WM unit 192 did end up with a supercharger at some point in its career.
The WM and LV (Ex PRR/PC) had both steam generators and dynamic brakes in the short hood. That’s why the hood is taller than normal.
I’m trying to make a US army rsd-1 with the running system from an atlas rsd-4 and the shell from an rs-1. Does anyone have any pointers or tips on how I could do this?
wouldnt it have been cool if ALCO merged with GE, or EMD, and were still producing locomotives? good reliable units. like say the Century series, a modern ALCO C 44-3 ACE? 4400 HP AC/DC traction motors tier 4 emissions lashed with AC 4400s, or with ES44DC, or SD70MAC? if only they could have held out,, ALCO could still be a competitor with GMD and GE.
...damned 244's!
So the rs1 out sold the sd50 , the more you know
0 gauge RS3
@23:30 beautiful
You're cheap-shotting Engine-Charley Wilson when you misquote him saying "What good for General Motors is good for the country". He also went on to say in the same quote "...and what's good for the country is good for General Motors". It was a statement acknowledging the interdependence of GM's success and America's growth.
Ads every one to two minutes are so annoying.
Alcos are garbage
Nah
Dewitt shops were in Syracuse NY, not Baltimore.