The ALCO RS-2 is a B-B

diesel-electric 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 ...

built by the

American Locomotive Company The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

(ALCO) from 1946 to 1950. ALCO introduced the model after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as an improvement on the

ALCO RS-1 The ALCO RS-1 is a 4-axle diesel-electric transmission, diesel-electric locomotive built by Alco-GE between 1941 and 1953 and the American Locomotive Company from 1953 to 1960. ALCO subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works built an additional three R ...

. Between 1946 and 1950, 377 examples of the RS-2 were built, primarily for American and Canadian customers. ALCO discontinued the RS-2 in 1950 in favor of the very similar RS-3, which was more popular. Several examples have been preserved.

Design and development

The RS-2 was a further development of the

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 ...

concept inaugurated with the RS-1. Externally, the RS-2 bodywork was more rounded. A more significant change was the switch from the RS-1's ALCO 539T engine to the ALCO 244, adding horsepower to better handle heavy road service. The new engine was a

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

V12 diesel engine with a bore and

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

developing 1,500 (later 1,600) hp at 1,000 rpm. Compared to the 539, it had a smaller cylinder and higher cylinder speed. Production of the RS-2 was delayed several months while ALCO worked out the new four-pipe divided low-rise manifold for the GE constant-pressure RD-1 turbocharger. The 244 engine was not a reliable design, however, and was replaced in less than ten years by the ALCO 251 engine.

History

A total of 377 RS-2s were produced: 368 by the

and nine by ALCO subsidiary

Montreal Locomotive Works Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer that existed under several names from 1883 to 1985, producing both Steam locomotive, steam and diesel locomotives. For many years it was a subsidiary of the American ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Eight of the ALCO RS-2s were exported to Canada. The RS-2 has a single, 12-cylinder, model 244B engine, developing . Thirty-one locomotives built by Alco between February and May 1950 were powered by a 12-cylinder 244C engine. ALCO built the RS-2 to compete with EMD,

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Founded in 1823 as a manufacturer of weighing scale, weighing scales, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinder ...

, and

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railway locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, Eddystone in the early 20th century. The com ...

. In 1947, Fairbanks-Morse introduced the H-15-44. Also in that year, Baldwin introduced the DRS-4-4-1500. 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. EMD, however, kept its competing

GP7 GP-7 or GP7 may refer to: Vehicular * EMD ''GP7'', a class of locomotives * Ducati ''GP7'', a model of the racing motorcycle Ducati ''Desmosedici'' * Honda ''GP7'', a model of the subcompact Honda ''Fit Shuttle'' Other uses * (48616) 1995 GP7, a ...

at . In 1954, EMD introduced the GP9. It was rated at . EMD produced 2,734 GP-7s. ALCO/MLW 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-4-4-1500s, and 127 AS-16s. The

Delaware and Hudson Railway The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP, which would it ...

rebuilt 13 of its RS-2s for passenger service, including on the '' Laurentian''. The D&H added a

steam generator Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

and water tank.

Original owners

ALCO and

built 377 locomotives. Cited and mirrored roster

Survivors

Very few RS-2s survive today. Three former Kennecott Copper locomotives are preserved, including Kennecott Copper 908 (former number 104) at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at

Portola, California Portola ( ) is the only incorporated city in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census, down from 2,227 at the 2000 census. Portola is located on the Middle Fork of the Feather River and was named a ...

. KCC 908 once served the mines out of

Ely, Nevada Ely (, ) is the largest city and county seat of White Pine County, Nevada, United States. Ely was founded as a stagecoach station along the Pony Express and Central Overland Route. In 1906 copper was discovered. Ely's mining boom came later tha ...

along the

Nevada Northern Railway The Nevada Northern Railway was a railroad in the U.S. state of Nevada, built primarily to reach a major copper producing area in White Pine County, Nevada. The railway, constructed in 1905–06, extended northward about from Ely, Nevada, Ely to ...

. Nevada Northern 105 is at Ely, Nevada, it was formerly the Kennecott Copper 105. Kennecott Copper 103 is at the San Diego Railroad Museum in Campo, California. It is painted as Santa Fe 2098. Another RS-2 is in active service on the

Texas State Railroad The Texas State Railroad, also referred to as the Lone Star and Eastern Railroad, is a historic heritage railroad between Rusk and Palestine, Texas. Built by inmates, it was founded in 1883 by the state of Texas to haul raw materials for a smel ...

(rebuilt as an RS-2-CAT). It is the former Union Railroad 608. The first production RS-2, originally sold to the Detroit & Mackinac RR as their number 466, was fully operable in freight service on the

Michigan Southern Railroad (1989) The Michigan Southern Railroad , founded in 1989 and owned by Pioneer Railcorp since 1999, operates a portion of the former Michigan Southern Railroad (1846-1855) between White Pigeon and Sturgis, Michigan, United States. At White Pigeon, the line ...

until a few years ago. As of September 2005, the 466 was stored out of service near the Michigan Southern's office in White Pigeon, Michigan, it was finally scrapped in December 2011. The former Detroit & Mackinac 469 was sold to Waymore Power and may be restored. The former Elgin Joliet and Eastern 801 is preserved in Jala, Mexico as a Las Encinas SA de CV 801. And MLW built Roberval and Saguenay 20 is at the Canadian Railway Museum.

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * Steinbrenner, Richard T. (2003). The American Locomotive Company: A Centennial Remembrance. On Track Publishers LLC, New Brunswick, NJ. . Chapters IX, X, and XI. {{MLW diesels B-B locomotives RS-2 RS-2 Diesel–electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1946 Standard-gauge locomotives of Canada Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Diesel–electric locomotives of Canada Shunting locomotives Canadian Pacific Railway locomotives Chesapeake and Ohio locomotives Chicago and North Western Railway locomotives Erie Railroad locomotives Great Northern Railway (United States) locomotives Lake Superior and Ishpeming locomotives Maine Central Railroad locomotives New York Central Railroad locomotives Diesel locomotives of Southern Railway (U.S.) Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway locomotives St. Louis–San Francisco Railway locomotives