ALCO S-1 and S-3

ALCO S-1 and S-3
Mid-Continent Railway No. 7, an S-1, rests between trains on October 10, 2004
Type and origin Power type Diesel Builder American Locomotive Company Montreal Locomotive Works Build date April 1940–June 1950 (S-1) February 1950–November 1953 (S-3) Total produced 543 (S-1) 300 (S-3)
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR B-B Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Trucks Blunt (S-1) AAR type A (S-3) Wheel diameter 40 in (1,016 mm) Minimum curve 50° (118.31 ft or 36.06 m) Wheelbase 30 ft (9.14 m) Length 45 ft (13.72 m) Width 10 ft 2+1⁄2 in (3.112 m) Height 14 ft 4+3⁄8 in (4.378 m) Loco weight 199,000 lb (90,000 kg) Fuel capacity 635 US gal (2,400 L; 529 imp gal) Prime mover Alco 539T Engine type Four-stroke diesel Aspiration Natural Displacement 9,572 cu in (156.86 L) Generator GE GT 552-A Traction motors 4 × GE 731 Cylinders Straight 6 Cylinder size 12+1⁄2 in × 13 in (318 mm × 330 mm)
Performance figures Power output 660 hp (490 kW) Tractive effort 49,790 lb (22,580 kg)
Career Locale North America, Brazil, United Kingdom

The ALCO S-1 and S-3 were 660 horsepower (490 kW) diesel-electric switcher locomotives produced by ALCO and their Canadian subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). The two locomotives differed only in trucks, with the S-1 using ALCO's own Blunt trucks, and the S-3 using AAR type A switcher trucks. The S-1 was built between April 1940 and June 1950, with a total of 543 completed, while the S-3 was constructed between February 1950 and November 1953 (MLW until 1957) with total sales of 300. A modified version, the S-10, was built by MLW only; 13 were built between January and June 1958.

Identification

The S-1 and S-3 are distinguishable externally from the very similar S-2 and S-4 1,000 horsepower (750 kW) switchers in that they have a smaller exhaust stack with a round base and a smaller radiator shutter area on the nose sides. The S-1/S-3 radiator shutter area is taller than it is wide, while the S-2/S-4 radiator area is wider. The smaller stack is due to the lack of turbocharging.

The S-10 is not externally distinguishable from later Canadian-built S-3 locomotives; it differed mostly in electrical equipment.

Original owners

The S-1 and S-3 models were sold to an extensive list of railroads and industrial operators, as detailed below. Major owners of the S-1 included the New York Central Railroad (NYC), with 71 locomotives; the New Haven with 65 locomotives; the L&N with 45 locomotives; the C&NW, with 29 locomotives; and the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) with 27 locomotives. Major customers for the S-3 included the CP, with 101; the CN, with 49; the NYC, with 43 locomotives; the B&M, with 16; and the PRR, with 13. The MLW S-10 was sold only to the CP.

The totals below include export orders and MLW-built locomotives.

S-1

ALCO constructed approximately 535 S-1s for the US market between 1940 and 1950.

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers
Alabama Great Southern Railroad	2	6501–6502
Alameda Belt Line	3	D-1–D-3
Alco (demonstrator)	1	660
Alco (plant switcher)	1	5
Alco/War Department	1	GT-1304
American Steel & Wire	1	2
Ann Arbor Railroad	2	2–3
ARMCO Steel	3	E106–E108
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway	2	2303–2304
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	6	223–227, 250
Belt Railway of Chicago	3	304–306
Birmingham Southern Railroad	2	100, 101
Boston and Maine Railroad	10	1163–1172
Broward County Port Authority	1	410
Canadian Car and Munitions	1	5
Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil	5	3001–3005
Central of Georgia Railway	2	4, 6
Central Railroad of New Jersey	2	1024, 1025
Champlain Paper and Fibre	1	25
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad	3	103–105
Chicago and North Western Railway	29	1202–1205, 1213, 1223–1229, 1232–1236, 1247–1258
Chicago Great Western Railway	5	11–15
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway	3	56, 57, 69
Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway	2	6000–6001
City of Prineville Railway	1	101
Donner Hanna Coal Company	1	2
Day and Zimmerman (Iowa Army Ammunition Depot)	1	3-100
Defense Plant Corporation	2	DPC25.23, DPC25.24
Delray Connecting Railroad	4	66, 68, 70, 72
Des Moines Union Railway	4	1–4
Detroit and Mackinac Railway	1	646
East St. Louis Junction Railroad	1	100
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway	5	213–217
Erie Railroad	16	306–321
Ford Motor Company	4	6601–6604
Great Lakes Steel Corporation	1	32
Green Bay and Western Railroad	1	102
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad	4	661–664
Hunken Conkey Construction	2	1001–1002
Inland Steel	7	53, 56, 61, 62, 64–66
Inland Waterways Corporation	1	1
Iowa Transfer Railroad	1	2
John Morrell & Co.	1	7
Kansas City Terminal Railway	5	40–44
Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western Railroad	1	103
Lehigh Valley Railroad	1	117
Long Island Rail Road	14	404–408, 413–420, 421
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	45	16–29, 34–68
Maine Central Railroad	8	953–960
Massena Terminal Railroad	2	8, 9
Minnesota Transfer Railway	5	60–64
Missouri Pacific Railroad	2	9007, 9008
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway	4	1–4
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México	5	5000-5004
Newburgh and South Shore Railway	7	3–7, 9, 10
New Orleans and Lower Coast Railroad	3	9013-9015
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad	65	0931–0995
New Jersey, Indiana and Illinois Railroad	1	1
New York Central Railroad	71	590, 685–744, 864–873
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad	1	85
Northern Pacific Railway	1	131
Northern Pacific Terminal	5	30–34
Pennsylvania Railroad	27	5661–5670, 5954–5956, 9100–9103, 9237–9246
Point Comfort and Northern Railway	1	5
Port Huron and Detroit Railroad	2	51, 52
Portland Terminal Company	4	1005-1008
Procter & Gamble	1	9
Pullman Railroad	2	20, 21
Reading Company	5	50-54
Red River Ordnance Depot	1	7372
Republic Steel	9	15–17, 312–314, D840, D841, D810
River Terminal Railway	1	52
St. Louis and O'Fallon Railway	1	51
Seaboard Air Line	1	1201
Sheffield Steel Corporation	3	11–13
Solvay Processing Division, Allied Chemical	3	1–3
South Buffalo Railway	4	51, 52, 60, 61
Southern Pacific Company	4	1017–1020
Southern Railway	3	2000, 2001, 2006
South Omaha Terminal Railway	5	1–5
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway	2	10, 11, 10 Sold to City of Prineville 102, 11 to Burlington Northern 11
Steel Company of Wales (UK)	5	801–805
Studebaker	2	2, 3
Tennessee Central Railway	1	51
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company	3	700–702
Tennessee Copper	2	104, 105
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis	4	521–524
Texas and New Orleans Railroad	1	10
Texaco	1	19
Texas City Terminal Railway	2	30, 31
Texas Pacific-Missouri Pacific Terminal Railroad of New Orleans	2	3, 4
Timken Rolling Bearing Company	2	5911, 5912
Toledo, Angola and Western Railway	1	101
Traux Truer Coal	1	10
Union Railroad	4	451–454
Upper Merion and Plymouth Railroad	1	54
U.S. Army	11	7132-7136, 7141-7142, 7374-7375, 7459-7460
Wabash Railroad	9	151–159
Weirton Steel	3	200, 203, 204
Western Maryland Railway	1	102
Western Pacific Railroad	8	504–511
Youngstown Sheet and Tube	5	661–665
Total	543

S-3

ALCO and the Montreal Locomotive Works constructed approximately 300 S-3s for the North American market between 1950 and 1957.

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers
Manufactured by ALCO
Aluminum Company of America	1	8
Ann Arbor Railroad	4	4–7
Boston and Maine Railroad	16	1173–1188
Brooks and Scanlon	2	101, 102
Champion Paper	1	2104
Chicago and North Western Railway	6	1262–1267
Davenport, Rock Island and North Western Railway	7	1–7
Davidson Chemical Division, W.R. Grace and Company	1	101
El Dorado and Wesson Railway	1	18
Ford Motor Company	7	6605–6611
Frederick Snare Corporation	1	7
General Portland Cement	1	1
Graysonia, Nashville and Ashdown Railroad	1	51
Greater Portland Public Development Corporation	1	661
Humble Oil	1	997
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	7	69–75
Maine Central Railroad	2	961, 962
Manistique and Lake Superior Railroad	1	1
Mount Hood Railroad	1	50
New York Central Railroad	43	874–916
Pennsylvania Railroad	13	8873–8885
Solvay Processing Division, Allied Chemical and Dye Corporation	1	2
Southern Pacific Company	10	1023–1032
Swift and Company	1	664
Texas and Northern Railway	2	3, 4
Texas City Terminal Railway	1	32
Texaco	2	21, 22
Washington, Idaho and Montana Railway	1	30
West Pittston and Exeter Railway	1	6
ALCO total	137
Manufactured by MLW
Bathhurst Power and Paper	1	3
Canadian Arsenals	1	1
Canadian National Railway	49	8450–8498
Canadian Pacific Railway	101	6500–6600
Essex Terminal Railway	1	103
LaSalle Coke	1	4
National Harbours Board	8	D2–D9
Price Brothers	1	106
MLW subtotal	163
Total	300

S-10

MLW constructed 13 S-10s in 1958, all for the Canadian Pacific Railway, numbered 6601–6613. These units were essentially similar to late-built S3s, though with minor updates to the electrical gear.

S-11

In 1959, MLW built a final order of 660 horsepower switchers for the Canadian Pacific, as model S-11, numbered 6614–6623. The internal machinery of these units was essentially the same as that of the S-10, but the car body was radically redesigned, with the radiator on the front end of the hood instead of on the sides.

Preservation

Ex-Canadian Pacific MLW S-3 No. 6568 on display at the Saskatchewan Railway Museum

Numerous S-1 and S-3 locomotives remain in use, and several are preserved:

• Ex-U.S. Army S-1 No. 7372 is at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum and painted in Western Pacific colors.
• Ex-Canadian Pacific MLW S-3 No. 6568 is at the Saskatchewan Railway Museum.
• Two Ex-Steel Company of Wales S-1s are preserved and are being restored to working order at the Nene Valley Railway in England.
• Ex-Erie Railroad S-1 No. 307 is preserved at Riverside Park, Manhattan and painted in New York Central colors.

See also

• List of ALCO diesel locomotives
• List of MLW diesel locomotives

External links

• Alco/MLW S-1 Roster
• Alco/MLW S-3 Roster