The Century 424 was a four-axle

Axle

An axle is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to its surroundings, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearings or bushings are provided at the mounting points where the axle...

, 2400 horsepower

Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

 (1.8 MW) diesel locomotive

Diesel locomotive

A diesel locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine, a reciprocating engine operating on the Diesel cycle as invented by Dr. Rudolf Diesel...

 of the road switcher

Road switcher

A road switcher is a type of railroad locomotive used for delivering or picking up cars outside of a railroad yard. Since the road switcher must work some distance away from a yard, it needs to be able to operate at road speeds, it must also have high-visibility while it is switching, and it must...

 type. 190 were built between April 1963 and May 1967. Cataloged as a part of Alco's Century

ALCO Century Series locomotives

The ALCO Century Series locomotives were a line of locomotives produced by Alco,the Montreal Locomotive Works, and A. E. Goodwin Ltd under license in Australia. Production of the Century Series began in 1963 and ended in 1972. MLW and Goodwin continued to build Century locomotives after Alco...

 line of locomotives, the C424 was intended to replace the earlier RS-27

ALCO RS-27

The ALCO RS-27 is a diesel-electric locomotive built by ALCO between December 1959 and October 1962. Only 27 examples were manufactured. With ALCO's introduction of the Century Series line, the C-424 replaced the RS-27 in the builder's catalog...

 model and offered as a lower-priced alternative to the C425

ALCO Century 425

The ALCO Century 425 was a four-axle, 2500 horsepower diesel locomotive of the road switcher type. 91 were built between October 1964 and December 1966....

. Montreal Locomotive Works

Montreal Locomotive Works

Montreal Locomotive Works was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883–1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company...

 also built this locomotive as MLW Century 424.

Locomotives built by Alco

Owner	Quantity	Numbers	Notes
Belt Railway of Chicago Belt Railway of Chicago The Belt Railway of Chicago , headquartered in Chicago, is the largest switching terminal railroad in the United States. It is co-owned by six Class I railroads — BNSF Railway, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union...	6	600–605
Erie Lackawanna Railway Erie Lackawanna Railway The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie–Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad...	15	2401–2415
Erie Mining Company	1	500
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 a major railroad controlled by the government that linked Mexico City to the major cities of Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juárez on the U.S. border...	45	8100–8144
Green Bay and Western Railroad Green Bay and Western Railroad The Green Bay and Western Railroad served the transportation and freight haulage needs of northern Wisconsin for almost 100 years before it was absorbed into the Wisconsin Central in 1993...	4	311–314
Pennsylvania Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....	1	2415	rebuilt from RS27 demonstrator 640-1
Reading Company Reading Company The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states...	10	5201–5210
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway was a United States-based railroad incorporated in 1905. It was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank of the Columbia River....	7	300–306
Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway The Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway is a short-line railroad that operates of track from Mapleton, Illinois, through Peoria across Illinois to Logansport, Indiana, and includes a branch line between Logansport to Winamac, Indiana...	2	800–801	now Morristown & Erie Railway #18 and 19
Wabash Railroad Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including trackage in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit,...	7	B900-B906	Built to NDM Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 a major railroad controlled by the government that linked Mexico City to the major cities of Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juárez on the U.S. border...  specifications, prohibited from being used as lead unit
Total	98

Locomotives built by MLW

Owner	Quantity	Numbers	Notes
Canadian National Railway Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....	41	3200–3240
Canadian Pacific Railway Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...	51	8300, 4201–4250	8300 renumbered 4200
Total	92

External links

• Sarberenyi, Robert. Alco C424 Original Owners.