The ALCO C-643DH, also known as the Century 643DH, was a twin-engine

diesel-hydraulic locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source 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 ...

, the first diesel-hydraulic

road switcher A road switcher locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive designed to both haul railroad car, railcars in mainline service and Shunting (rail), shunt them in railroad yards. Both type and term are North American in origin, although similar t ...

built in the United States. It had a C-C wheel arrangement and generated . Only three were built, all for

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Railroad classes#Class I, Class I Rail transport, railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was oper ...

in 1964 (#9018–#9020). The Alco C-643DHs joined 21

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ML-4000 diesel-hydraulics already on the Southern Pacific's roster. They spent most of their service lives in the flat

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; Spanish language in California, Spanish: ''Valle de San Joaquín'') is the southern half of California's Central Valley (California), Central Valley. Famed as a major breadbasket, the San Joaquin Valley is an importa ...

in California. Dissatisfaction over the poor performance of diesel-hydraulic locomotives, as well as their use of foreign-made components (the hydraulic transmission was of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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design), eventually led Southern Pacific to sell the 3 C-643DHs for scrap in 1973. None of the 3 examples built survived into preservation.

Original owners

References

* * * * *

External links

Alco Six-Axle Centuries Roster

C-643DH Diesel–hydraulic locomotives of the United States C-C locomotives Southern Pacific Railroad locomotives Experimental locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1964 Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Scrapped locomotives {{Diesel-loco-stub

Original owners

See also

References

External links