The ALCO RS-3 is a , B-B diesel-electric locomotive manufactured from May 1950 to August 1956 by

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) and its subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). A total of 1,418 were produced: 1,272 for American railroads, 98 for

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

railroads, 48 for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

ian railroads, and 7 for Mexican railroads. The RS-3 greatly resembled the earlier RS-2 and somewhat resembles the RS-1, but it had 100 more horsepower thanks to its 12-cylinder, 1,600 hp ALCO Model 244 engine. It also had some changes to the fuel system and body shape. Much like the RS-1, many RS-3s served for decades; some are still in use as of 2022.

Variants

RSC-3: an RS-3 that used 3-axle trucks instead of 2-axle trucks. The middle axle on each truck was unpowered. This variant was designed for service on light track, as the extra axles better spread the weight of the locomotive. The RSD-4 and RSD-5 were similar units but with all 6 axles powered. RS-3m: an RS-3 whose engine was replaced with the more reliable EMD engine. Various railroads had repowering programs, most using 567B (and later 567C) engines from retired E-units in their RS-3's. The New York Central RR rebuilds were nicknamed "DeWitt Geeps", after the shop that did the conversions. Various Alco production variations occurred depending on the specifications by the customer. A small handful were built with steam generators in an extended-height short hood, nicknamed "Hammerhead" RS3's. Some had dynamic brakes located in the short hood. Some NYC units had one of their air tanks mounted on top of the long hood. Carbody vents, doors, and louvres also changed over the production span.

Competition

ALCO built the RS-3 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 ...

—and in particular with EMD's GP7, introduced in 1949. The arrival of the 1,500-hp GP7 led ALCO, Fairbanks-Morse, and Baldwin to increased the power of an existing locomotive line from and add more improvements to create new locomotive lines. In 1950, Fairbanks-Morse introduced the H-16-44, while Baldwin introduced the Baldwin AS-16. ALCO's line was the RS-2, although 31 were built in 1950 with . Fairbanks-Morse's line was the H-15-44. Baldwin's line was the Baldwin DRS-4-4-1500. EMD kept its GP7 at until 1954, when it introduced the GP9, rated at . In the end, EMD won the road switcher production race. EMD produced 2,729 GP7s. ALCO 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-4-4-15s, and 127 AS-16s.

Exports

Brazil

In 1952, the

ian railway the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil purchased forty six new RS-3s from the Montreal Locomotive Works. Some are still active as work train engines for CPTM, Supervia, and CBTU – BH respectively São Paulo's, Rio de Janeiro's and Belo Horizonte's commuter railways. In Brazil these units were nicknamed Canadians or Hot Tails.

Spain

In 1964, the Spanish railway the Ferrocarril de Langreo purchased four RS-3s from the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. A fifth unit, number 1604, was purchased in 1971 from the

Burlington Northern Railroad The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

(BN), a piece of surplus Great Northern Railway stock from the 1970 merger that formed BN. The locomotives served until 1984, when the line was converted to .

References

Bibliography

* * * {{MLW diesels RS-3 B-B locomotives RS-3 Railway locomotives introduced in 1950 Passenger locomotives Freight locomotives Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Diesel–electric locomotives of Brazil Standard-gauge locomotives of Spain Broad gauge locomotives in Brazil Standard-gauge locomotives of Canada Diesel–electric locomotives of Canada Diesel–electric locomotives of Spain Diesel–electric locomotives of the United States Shunting locomotives Maine Central Railroad locomotives Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway locomotives