The Alco T6 (DL 440) is a diesel-electric

switcher locomotive A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), station pilot (British English), or shifter locomotive (Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distanc ...

rated at , that rides on two-axle

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

, having a B-B wheel arrangement. The 'T' stands for 'Transfer', meaning this locomotive is capable of faster transition and higher sustained speeds than the regular 'S' - type yard switcher series. A major difference underlying this shift is the use of the heavier GE 752

traction motors A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, or electric multiple unit trains. Traction motors are used in electrically powered railway vehicles (electric multiple u ...

, as used on road locomotives, in place of the GE 731 traction motors used on nearly all Alco's preceding switchers. The 752 motors give the T-6 a very substantial increase in continuous

tractive effort In railway engineering, the term tractive effort describes the pulling or pushing capability of a locomotive. The published tractive force value for any vehicle may be theoretical—that is, calculated from known or implied mechanical proper ...

, which greatly improved its slow-speed lugging performance. The T-6 was the last series of locomotives built by Alco. The last T-6 built in 1969, the same year that the company had left the locomotive business. This last locomotive is Newburgh and South Shore #1017 which survives today in operation on the

West Michigan Railroad The West Michigan Railroad is a shortline railroad in southwest Michigan. It began operations in 1995, replacing the bankrupt Kalamazoo, Lake Shore and Chicago Railroad on an ex-Pere Marquette Railway line between Hartford, MI, Hartford and Paw ...

Original owners

Survivors

The

Delaware Coast Line Railroad The Delaware Coast Line Railroad was a short-line railroad located in Sussex County, Delaware. The company operated two lines on track owned by the State of Delaware: one running from Ellendale east to Milton and another running from Georgeto ...

, the

Ohio Central Railroad System The Ohio Central Railroad System is a network of ten short line railroads operating in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. It is owned by Genesee & Wyoming. Headquartered in Coshocton, Ohio, the system operates of track divided among 10 subsidiary ...

and the

Arkansas and Missouri Railroad The Arkansas and Missouri Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas. The A&M, as it is known, operates of line from Fort Smith, Arkansas to Monett, Missouri. The railroad interchanges freight cars with K ...

operate the T-6. Ohio Central's T-6 is unique because it was the only one built (for

Monongahela Connecting Railroad The Monongahela Connecting Railroad or Mon Conn was a three-mile industrial railroad line in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a subsidiary of the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company and a large portion of its work was for its parent company, though i ...

) with Hi-Ad trucks. 14 T-6's survive in all. Pennsylvania RR 8427 survives as

Georges Creek Railway The Georges Creek Railway was a shortline railroad in Western Maryland that performed contract switching, and it owns of trackage between Westernport and Carlos. The railroad was headquartered at 119 Pratt Street in Luke in the former Luke ...

101. It was that railroad's first locomotive acquisition and is often used to switch the NewPage paper mill at

Luke, Maryland Luke is a town in Allegany County, Maryland, Allegany County, Maryland, United States, located along the Potomac River just upstream of Westernport, Maryland, Westernport. Known originally as West Piedmont, the town is part of the Cumberland, MD-W ...

. Newburg and South Shore Railroad 1017 survives on the

. Newburg and South Shore Railroad 1016 survives as

Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad The Middletown and Hummelstown Railroad is a shortline railroad which operates freight train, freight and Heritage railway, tourist passenger trains between Middletown, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Middletown to Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. Passe ...

1016. Norfolk and Western Railway #40 survives as a static display in the Virginia Museum of Transportation. It has been restored to Chesapeake and Western #10 paint. Norfolk and Western Railway #41 is operated by the Roanoke Chapter, NRHS. It has been restored to Norfolk and Western lettering and makes operating appearances at the Virginia Museum of Transportation.

References

https://web.archive.org/web/20140220043646/http://www.gckrail.com/

External links

Preserved diesels
* Sarberenyi, Robert.

'. B-B locomotives T6 Diesel–electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1958 Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Standard-gauge locomotives of Mexico Diesel–electric locomotives of Mexico Shunting locomotives Norfolk and Western Railway locomotives Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives {{diesel-loco-stub

Original owners

Survivors

See also

References

External links