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The ALCO PA was a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains. The locomotives were built in Schenectady, New York, in the United States, by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and General Electric (GE) between June, 1946 and December, 1953. Designed by General Electric's Ray Patten (along with their ALCO FA cousins), they were of a cab unit design; both cab-equipped lead A unit PA and cabless booster B unit PB models were built. While externally the PB models were slightly shorter than the PA model, [1] they shared many of the same characteristics, both aesthetically and mechanically. However, they were not as reliable as EMD E-units. [2]
ALCO's designation of P indicates that they were geared for higher speeds and passenger use, whereas the F designation marks these locomotives as being geared primarily for freight use. However, beyond this, their design was largely similar - aside from the PA/PB's both being larger A1A-A1A types with an even more striking nose - and many railroads used PA and FA locomotives for both freight and passenger service.
Although the majority of the PAs and PBs have been scrapped, six examples have survived. Five PAs are now preserved in railroad museums, while a converted PB still remains in service as a power car.
There were two models of PAs: the 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW)PA-1/PB-1, which was built between September 1946 and June 1950, and the 2,250 horsepower (1,680 kW)PA-2/PB-2, which was built between April, 1950 and December, 1953.[ citation needed ]
The PAs, as well as their cousins, the ALCO FAs, were born as a result of ALCO's development of a new diesel engine design, the Model 244. In early 1944, development started on the new design, and by November 1945 the first engines were beginning to undergo tests. This unusually-short testing sequence was brought about by the decision of ALCO's senior management that the engine and an associated line of road locomotives had to be introduced no later than the end of 1946.
In preparation for this deadline, by January, 1946, the first 16-cylinder 244 engines were being tested, and, while a strike delayed work on the locomotives, the first two PA units were released for road tests in June, 1946 for testing for one month on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. After these first tests were completed, the locomotives returned to the factory for refurbishment and engine replacement.
In September, 1946, the first production units, an A-B-A set of PA1s in Santa Fe colors, numbered #51L, 51A and 51B, were released from the factory and sent to New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, which had a private railroad siding, for exhibition before being launched into road service. [3] This set was repowered in August, 1954 with EMD 16-567C engines rated at 1,750 hp (1,300 kW). This EMD repowering of the PAs was economically unfeasible, and the remaining Santa Fe PAs retained their 244 engines.
Four PA-1s previously operated by the Santa Fe were sold to Delaware and Hudson Railway in 1967. In 1974-1975, they were rebuilt for the D&H as PA-4s by Morrison Knudsen and equipped with ALCO's 251 V-12 engines. [4] Under D&H ownership, they were used by Amtrak for the Adirondack . [5] (Amtrak itself only purchased EMD E- and F-units from the railroads whose service it replaced for its diesel roster, and never owned any PAs. [5] [6] ) They were used by the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority in the late 1970s, then by Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México in 1978–81.
Fans deemed the PA one of the most beautiful diesels and an "Honorary Steam Locomotive", as noted by Professor George W. Hilton in a book review in September, 1968 Trains Magazine . When accelerating, until the turbocharger came up to speed, thick clouds of black smoke would pour from the exhaust stacks due to turbo lag. Photographing a moving PA while smoking became a prime objective of railfans. [7] [8]
Railroad | PA1 | PB1 | PA2 | PB2 | PA1 road numbers | PB1 road numbers | PA2 road numbers | PB2 road numbers | Notes |
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ALCO-GE Demonstrators | 1 | 1 | 8375 | 8375B | to New York Central Railroad 4212 and 4304 | ||||
ALCO-GE Demonstrators | 2 | 9077-9078 | Demonstrated on Canadian National, painted in CN green and gold, later to Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad as PA-2s 59A, C. Last PA-1s built. | ||||||
American Freedom Train (original) | 1 | 1776 | First production PA1. To Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad 292 | ||||||
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad | 28 | 16 | 51-62L, B, 70-73L | 51-62A, 70-73A | Four PA1s sold to Delaware & Hudson in 1967; became last to operate in U.S. | ||||
Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad | 4 | 2 | 6001, 6003, 6011, 6013 | 6002, 6012 | |||||
Erie Railroad | 12 | 2 | 850-861 | 862-863 | |||||
Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad | 2 | 290-291 | |||||||
Lehigh Valley Railroad | 14 | 601-614 | |||||||
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad | 4 | 8 | 57-58A, C | 60-63A, C | 59A, C were Alco PA-1 demonstrators rebuilt as PA-2s | ||||
Missouri Pacific Railroad | 8 | 28 | 8001-8008 | 8009-8036 | 8011-8012 were originally owned by International & Great Northern | ||||
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad | 27 | 0760-0786 | Unit 0783 to D&H in 1967 for parts. | ||||||
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (Nickel Plate Road) | 11 | 180-190 | |||||||
New York Central Railroad | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4200-4203 | 4300-4303 | 4208-4211 | |||
Pennsylvania Railroad | 10 | 5 | 5750-5759 | 5750B/5758B even #s | |||||
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie | 4 | 2 | 4204-4207 | 4213-4214 | |||||
St. Louis Southwestern Railway | 2 | 300-301 | To Southern Pacific Railroad 6067-6068 | ||||||
Southern Pacific Railroad (T&NO) | 12 | 200-205A, B | Renumbered to 200-211, then to Southern Pacific 6055-6066 | ||||||
Southern Pacific Railroad | 12 | 6 | 27 | 7 | 6005-6010A, C | 6005-6010B | 6019-6045 | 5918-5924 | 6005-6010A, C renumbered to 6005-6016, 6005-6010B renumbered to 5910-5915 |
Southern Railway (CNO&TP) | 6 | 6900-6905 | Last PA's built by ALCO | ||||||
Union Pacific Railroad | 8 | 6 | 600-607 | 600B, 602B, 604B-607B | 607 converted for experimental coal-burning turbine in 1962 | ||||
Wabash Railroad | 4 | 1050-1053 | |||||||
Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro | 3 | 600-602 | 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge | ||||||
Totals | 169 | 39 | 81 | 8 | |||||
The PA-2 units sold to the 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) broad gauge Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro of São Paulo State in Brazil were equipped with a bar pilot and solid horizontal steel pilot beam. One of these locomotives survives.
Five PA units and one converted PB unit survive.
The AAR wheel arrangement system is a method of classifying locomotive wheel arrangements that was developed by the Association of American Railroads. Essentially a simplification of the European UIC classification, it is widely used in North America to describe diesel and electric locomotives. It is not used for steam locomotives, which use the Whyte notation instead.
The EMC E3 is a 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A diesel-electric passenger locomotive that was manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation of La Grange, Illinois as part of the E Series of EMC/EMD diesel passenger locomotives. The EMC demonstrator #822 was released from La Grange for test on September 12, 1938. The cab version, or E3A, was manufactured from September 1938 to June 1940, and 17 were produced. The booster version, or E3B, was manufactured in March 1939 and September 1939, and 2 were produced. The 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) was achieved by putting two 1,000 horsepower (750 kW), 12-cylinder, model 567 engines in the engine compartment. Each engine drove its own electrical generator to power the traction motors. The E3 was the fourth model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.
The EMC E2 was an American passenger-train diesel locomotive which as a single unit developed 1,800 horsepower (1,300 kW), from two (2) 900 horsepower (670 kW) prime movers. These locomotives were typically operated as a unit set or ; where the three unit lashup developed 5400 horsepower. This was almost the ideal horsepower required for the tonnage of a 15 - 18 car passenger train, operated over the ruling grades of virtually all of the mileage between major American cities. The units were of the A1A-A1A wheel arrangement, and manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC), later Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois.
EMD E-units were a line of passenger train streamliner diesel locomotives built by the General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and its predecessor the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC). Final assembly for all E-units was in La Grange, Illinois. Production ran from May 1937, to December, 1963. The name E-units refers to the model numbers given to each successive type, which all began with E. The E originally stood for eighteen hundred horsepower, the power of the earliest model, but the letter was kept for later models of higher power.
The EMC E1 was an early passenger-train diesel locomotive developing 1,800 hp, with an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement, and manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation of La Grange, Illinois. They were built during 1937 and 1938 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway for a new generation of diesel-powered streamlined trains. 8 cab-equipped lead A units and three cabless booster B units were built. The initial three locomotives were AB pairs built to haul the Santa Fe's Super Chief diesel streamliners, while the others were built as single A units to haul shorter trains. The locomotives were diesel-electrics with two 900 hp (670 kW) Winton 201-A engines each, with each engine driving its own generator to power the traction motors. The E1 was the second model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units. All Winton 201A-engined Santa Fe passenger units, including the E1s, were extensively rebuilt into the 80-class E8M engines in 1952–53. These were similar to production E8 models, but derated to 2,000 hp so as not to burn out the early traction (axle) motors.
The EMC EA/EB is an early passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built from May 16, 1937, to 1938 by Electro-Motive Corporation of La Grange, Illinois for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. They were the first model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units. Each locomotive unit developed 1,800 horsepower (1,300 kW) from two 900 hp (670 kW) Winton 201-A diesel engines, driving the wheels through an electric transmission—the generator driven by each engine provided current for traction motors. The locomotives were of A1A-A1A wheel arrangement—two three-axle trucks of which only the outer two axles were powered. Six two-unit 3,600 hp (2,700 kW) locomotives were produced, each consisting of a lead cab-equipped EA A unit and a cabless booster EB B unit. They were numbered 51 through 56; the A units bore the bare number and the B units the number followed by 'X'.
Electro-Motive Corporation produced five 1800 hp B-B experimental passenger train-hauling diesel locomotives in 1935; two company-owned demonstrators, #511 and #512, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's #50, and two units for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Diesel Locomotive #1. The twin engine power unit layout and multiple unit control systems developed with the B-B locomotives were soon adopted for other locomotives such as the Burlington Route's Zephyr locomotives built by the Budd Company in 1936 and EMC's own EMD E-units introduced in 1937. The B-B locomotives worked as proof-of-concept demonstrators for diesel power with the service loads of full size trains, breaking out of its niche powering the smaller custom Streamliners.
The EMD FT is a 1,350-horsepower (1,010 kW) diesel-electric locomotive that was produced between March 1939 and November 1945, by General Motors' Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC), later known as GM Electro-Motive Division (EMD). The "F" stood for Fourteen Hundred (1400) horsepower and the "T" for Twin, as it came standard in a two-unit set. The design was developed from the TA model built for the C,RI&P in 1937, and was similar in cylinder count, axle count, length, and layout. All told 555 cab-equipped ”A” units were built, along with 541 cabless booster or ”B” units, for a grand total of 1,096 units. The locomotives were all sold to customers in the United States. It was the first model in EMD's very successful F-unit series of cab unit freight diesels and was the locomotive that convinced many U.S. railroads that the diesel-electric freight locomotive was the future. Many rail historians consider the FT one of the most important locomotive models of all time.
EMD F-units are a line of diesel-electric locomotives produced between November 1939 and November 1960 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors-Diesel Division. Final assembly for all F-units was at the GM-EMD plant at La Grange, Illinois, and the GMDD plant in London, Ontario. They were sold to railroads throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, and a few were exported to Saudi Arabia. The term F-unit refers to the model numbers given to each successive type, all of which began with the letter F. The F originally meant "fourteen", as in 1,400 horsepower (1,000 kW), not "freight". Longer EMD E-units for passenger service had twin 900-horsepower (670 kW) diesel engines. The E meant "eighteen" as in 1,800 horsepower (1,300 kW). Similarly, for early model EMD switchers, S meant "six hundred" and N meant "nine hundred horsepower".
In North American railroad terminology, a cab unit is a railroad locomotive with its own cab and controls.
The EMD F7 is a model of 1,500-horsepower (1,100 kW) diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD).
Electro-Motive Diesel is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010. Electro-Motive Diesel traces its roots to the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation, founded in 1922 and purchased by General Motors in 1930. After purchase by GM, the company was known as GM's Electro-Motive Division. In 2005, GM sold EMD to Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners, and in 2010, EMD was sold to Progress Rail, a subsidiary of the heavy equipment manufacturer Caterpillar. Upon the 2005 sale, the company was renamed to Electro-Motive Diesel.
The ALCO RS-2 is a 1,500–1,600 horsepower (1,100–1,200 kW) B-B diesel-electric locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) from 1946 to 1950. ALCO introduced the model after World War II as an improvement on the ALCO RS-1. Between 1946 and 1950, 377 examples of the RS-2 were built, primarily for American and Canadian customers.
The ALCO DL-109 was one of six models of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) between December, 1939 and April, 1945. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead A units DL-103b, DL-105, DL-107, DL-109 and cabless booster B units DL-108, DL-110 models were built. The units were styled by noted industrial designer Otto Kuhler, who incorporated into his characteristic cab the trademark three-piece windshield design. A total of 74 cab units and four cabless booster units were built.
The Santa Fe CF7 is an EMD F-unit railroad locomotive that has had its streamlined carbody removed and replaced with a custom-made, "general purpose" body in order to adapt the unit for switching duty. All of the conversions were performed by the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway's Cleburne, Texas, workshops between February 1970 and 1978. This was Santa Fe's most notable remanufacturing project, with 233 completed between 1970 - March 1978. The program was initiated in response to a system-wide need for more than 200 additional four-axle diesel road switchers to meet projected motive power demands on branch lines and secondary main lines.
The Baldwin VO-1000 is a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works between January 1939 and December 1946. These units were powered by a naturally aspirated eight-cylinder diesel engine rated at 1,000 horsepower (746 kW), and rode on a pair of two-axle trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. These were either the AAR Type-A switcher trucks, or the Batz truck originally developed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a leading truck for steam locomotives. 548 examples of this model were built for American railroads, including examples for the Army and Navy.
The Erie-built was the first streamlined, cab-equipped dual service diesel locomotive built by Fairbanks-Morse, introduced as direct competition to such models as the ALCO PA and FA and EMD FT. F-M lacked the space and staff to design and manufacture large road locomotives in their own plant at Beloit, Wisconsin, and was concerned that waiting to develop the necessary infrastructure would cause them to miss out on the market opportunity for large road locomotives. Engineering and assembly work was subcontracted out to General Electric, which produced the locomotives at its Erie, Pennsylvania, facility, thereby giving rise to the name "Erie-built."
The ALCO FA is a family of B-B diesel locomotives designed to haul freight trains. The locomotives were built by a partnership of ALCO and General Electric in Schenectady, New York, between January 1946 and May 1959. Designed by General Electric's Ray Patten, they were of a cab unit design; both cab-equipped lead FA and cabless booster FB models were built. A dual passenger-freight version, the FPA/FPB, was also offered. It was equipped with a steam generator for heating passenger cars.
The GE U28CG was a dual-service diesel-electric locomotive produced in 1966 by GE Transportation Systems and derived from their freight-hauling U28C design. The sole customer was the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which ordered ten early that year for delivery in July and August.
The Museum of the American Railroad, formerly known as the Age of Steam Railroad Museum, is a railroad museum in Frisco, Texas. The museum has more than 70 pieces of steam, diesel, passenger, and freight railroad equipment sitting on 15 acres making it one of the largest historic rail collections in the US. Guests may walk through some of the equipment on guided tours.