The
American Locomotive Company, often shortened to
ALCO or
Alco (or less frequently
ALCo), was a builder of railroad
locomotiveA locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early history
The company was created in 1901 from the merger of several smaller locomotive manufacturers:
- Brooks Locomotive Works
The Brooks Locomotive Works manufactured steam railroad locomotives and freight cars from 1869 through its merger into the American Locomotive Company until 1934.-History:...
in Dunkirk, NY
- Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works
The Cooke Locomotive and Machine Works, located in Paterson, New Jersey, manufactured steam railroad locomotives from 1852 until it was merged with seven other manufacturers to form American Locomotive Company in 1901...
in Paterson, NJ
- Dickson Manufacturing Company
Dickson Manufacturing Company was a manufacturer of boilers and steam engines used in various industries but most known in railway steam locomotives...
in Scranton, PA
- Manchester Locomotive Works
Manchester Locomotive Works was a manufacturing company located in Manchester, New Hampshire, that built railway steam locomotives in the 19th century. The first locomotive they built was for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in March 1855. In 1901, Manchester and seven other locomotive...
in Manchester, NH
- Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works
The Pittsburgh Locomotive and Car Works was a railroad equipment manufacturing company founded by Andrew Carnegie and T.N. Miller in 1865. It was located in Allegheny, Pennsylvania....
in Pittsburgh, PA
- Rhode Island Locomotive Works
Rhode Island Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive manufacturing company of the 19th century located in Providence, Rhode Island. The factory produced more than 3,400 locomotives between 1867 and 1906, when locomotive production there was shut down. The locomotive works employed about 1400 men,...
in Providence, RI
- Richmond Locomotive Works
Richmond Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive manufacturing firm of the 19th century, located in Richmond, Virginia. In 1901, Richmond and seven other manufacturing companies merged to form American Locomotive Company...
in Richmond, VA
- Schenectady Locomotive Works
The Schenectady Locomotive Works built railroad locomotives from the mid 19th century through its merger into American Locomotive Company in 1901.After the 1901 merger, ALCO made the Schenectady plant its headquarters in Schenectady, New York....
in Schenectady, NY
The new company was headquartered in Schenectady and eventually closed all the other locomotive manufacturing plants, except for the main plants in Schenectady, NY and Montreal, Quebec.
In 1904, the Locomotive and Machine Company of
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
, Canada, was acquired; this company was eventually renamed the
Montreal Locomotive WorksMontreal 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...
(MLW) and continued to manufacture Alco designs after the parent company ceased production. The next year, 1905, Alco purchased
Rogers Locomotive WorksRogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey in the United States. They built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the world. Most railroads in 19th-century United States...
of
Paterson, New JerseyPaterson is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 149,222. Census population projections indicate a population of 146,545 as of 2007, making it New Jersey's third largest city. It is the county seat of Passaic County...
, the second largest locomotive manufacturer in the US behind
Baldwin Locomotive WorksThe Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania...
.
Steam locomotives
Alco was the second-largest steam locomotive builder in the United States (after
BaldwinThe Baldwin Locomotive Works was an American builder of railroad locomotives. It was located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania originally, and later in nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania...
), producing over 75,000 locomotives. Among these were a large number of well-known locomotives. Railroads that favored Alco products included the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, the New Haven Railroad, the
New York Central RailroadThe New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
, the
Union PacificThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest and oldest operating railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
and the
Southern PacificThe Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company , and usually simply called the Southern Pacific, was an American railroad. The railroad was founded as a land holding company in 1865, later acquiring the Central Pacific Railroad by lease...
. Alco was known for its steam locomotives of which the
4-6-4A 4-6-4 locomotive, in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, has four leading wheels , six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels ....
HudsonHudson was the name given to the 4-6-4 steam locomotive wheel arrangement by the New York Central Railroad which was the first to use locomotives of this type in North America.-History:...
and the
4-8-4Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 4-8-4 locomotive has four leading wheels, eight coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels.Other equivalent classifications are:
...
NiagaraThe New York Central Railroad Niagara was a type of steam locomotive named after the Niagara River and Falls.They were express mixed traffic locomotives with a wheel arrangement of 4-8-4 in the Whyte notation....
built for the New York Central and the
4-6-6-4In Whyte notation, a 4-6-6-4 is a railroad steam locomotive that has four leading wheels followed by six coupled driving wheels, a second set of six driving wheels and four trailing wheels.Other equivalent classifications are:
...
(Challenger) built for the
Union Pacific RailroadThe Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest and oldest operating railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....
were fine examples. Alco built many of the biggest locomotives ever constructed, including
Union Pacific's Big BoyBig Boy was the name given to the Union Pacific Railroad's twenty-five 4000 class 4-8-8-4 articulated steam locomotives built between 1941 and 1944 by Alco.-Background:...
(
4-8-8-4In the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 4-8-8-4 is a locomotive with a four-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck.Other equivalent classifications are:
...
).
Alco also built the first steam locomotive in
North AmericaNorth America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific...
to use roller bearings:
Timken 1111Timken 1111, also called the Timken Four Aces, was a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built in 1930 by American Locomotive Company to serve as a demonstration unit for new roller bearings produced by the Timken Roller Bearing Company...
, a 4-8-4 commissioned in 1930 by
Timken Roller Bearing CompanyThe Timken Roller Bearing Company was one of the first to introduce roller bearings for railroad cars. Railroad cars owned and operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway were some of the first to use roller bearings rather than "oil waste journal" boxes.Also, the ATSF was the first...
was used for on fifteen major
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
railroads before it was purchased in 1933 by Northern Pacific Railroad.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, ALCO produced many
2-10-0 DecapodsUnder the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, a 2-10-0 is a locomotive with two leading wheels, generally in a radially swinging leading truck, and ten coupled driving wheels, five on each side...
for the USSR. Many of these were undelivered at the end of the war, and 10 of these were sold to
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland
, is a Nordic country and democracy situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. It borders Sweden on the west, Russia on the east, and Norway on the north, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland...
in 1947. One, ALCO builder's no. # 75214, is preserved at the
Finnish Railway MuseumThe Finnish Railway Museum is located in Hyvinkää, Finland. It was originally founded in 1898 and located in Helsinki. The museum was moved to Hyvinkää in 1974.The museum is on the original station and yard site of the Hanko–Hyvinkää railway...
.
Though the dual-service 4-8-4 steam locomotive had shown great promise, 1948 saw the last steam locomotives erected in Schenectady. These were the seven A-2a class 9400-series
Pittsburgh and Lake Erie RailroadThe Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad , also known as the "Little Giant", was formed on May 11 1875. Company headquarters were located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The line connected Pittsburgh in the east with Youngstown, Ohio at nearby Haselton, Ohio in the west and Connellsville, Pennsylvania...
2-8-4In the Whyte notation, a 2-8-4 is a railroad steam locomotive that has one unpowered leading axle followed by four powered driving axles and two unpowered trailing axles. This locomotive type is most often referred to as a Berkshire, though the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway used the name Kanawha for...
"Berkshires". Their tenders, however had to be subcontracted to
Lima Locomotive WorksLima Locomotive Works was an American firm that manufactured railroad locomotives from the 1870s through the 1950s. The company took the most distinctive part of its name from its main shops location in Lima, Ohio. The shops were located between the Baltimore & Ohio's Cincinnati-Toledo main line...
, as Alco's tender shop had been closed, and the building converted to diesel locomotive manufacture
Joseph Burroughs Ennis (1879-1955) was a senior vice president between 1917 and 1947 and was responsible for the design of many of the locomotives manufactured.
Alco automobiles
The company diversified into the
automobileAn automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
business in 1906, producing
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
BerlietBerliet was a French manufacturer of automobiles, trucks and other utility vehicles, based in Venissieux, outside of Lyons, France.Marius Berliet started his experiments with automobiles in 1894. Some single cylinder cars were followed in 1900 by a twin-cylinder model. In 1902, Berliet took over...
designs under license. Production was located at ALCO's
Rhode Island Locomotive WorksRhode Island Locomotive Works was a steam locomotive manufacturing company of the 19th century located in Providence, Rhode Island. The factory produced more than 3,400 locomotives between 1867 and 1906, when locomotive production there was shut down. The locomotive works employed about 1400 men,...
in
Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, and one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the estimated second or third largest city in the New England region...
. Two years later, the Berliet license was abandoned, and the company began to produce its own designs instead. Alco cars won the
Vanderbilt CupThe Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing. An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held at a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, New York. The announcement that the race was to be held caused considerable...
in both 1909 and 1910 and also competed in the
Indianapolis 500The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500 or sometimes known simply as The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually over the Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
in 1911, but they had less success in sales, abandoning automobile manufacture in 1913. The Alco automobile story is chiefly notable for starting the automobile career of Walter P. Chrysler, the plant manager, who left for
BuickBuick is a marque of automobile sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, Qatar, Kuwait, and Israel by General Motors Company...
in 1911 and subsequently founded the
ChryslerChrysler Group, LLC is an American automobile manufacturer headquartered in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925. From 1998 to 2007, Chrysler and its subsidiaries were part of the German based DaimlerChrysler AG...
automobile giant which went bankrupt in 2009.
Diesel-electric locomotives
- For a list of Alco diesel locomotive models, see List of ALCO diesel locomotives.
Although it was strongly committed to the
steam locomotiveA steam locomotive is a locomotive powered by steam. The term usually refers to its use on railways, but can also refer to a "road locomotive" such as a traction engine or steamroller....
, Alco produced the first commercially successful diesel-electric locomotive in 1924 in a consortium with
General ElectricThe General Electric Company, or GE , is a multinational American technology and services conglomerate incorporated in the State of New York. In 2009, Forbes ranked GE as the world's largest company...
(electrical equipment) and Ingersoll-Rand (
diesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber during the final stage of compression...
). This locomotive was sold to the
Central Railroad of New JerseyThe Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States...
, and subsequent locomotives were built for a number of railroads including the
Long Island Rail RoadThe Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York that has been classified as a Class II railroad by the Surface Transportation Board. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, servicing around 81 million passengers each year, and...
and the
Chicago and North Western RailwayThe Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
.
The company bought an engine manufacturer, McIntosh & Seymour Diesel Engine Company, in 1929 and henceforth produced its own diesel engines, although electrical equipment was always from GE. Alco was in the 1930s the pre-eminent diesel locomotive builder in the United States, but the General Motors Electro-Motive Division took over that position with aggressive marketing, a ready supply of development capital from its parent company, and the intervention of the war years. During that troubled time, Alco was allocated the construction of diesel switching locomotives, a handful of
ALCO DL-109The ALCO DL-109 is one of six models of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains by the American Locomotive Company between December, 1939 and April, 1945...
dual-service engines and its proven steam designs, whereas EMD was allocated the construction of mainline road freight diesels (the production of straight passenger-service engines was prohibited by the War Production Board). This was because Alco's revolutionary
RS-1The ALCO RS-1 was a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Alco-GE between 1941 and 1953 and the American Locomotive Company from 1953 to 1960. This model has the distinction of having the longest production run of any diesel locomotive for the North American market.The carbody configuration of...
roadswitcher was selected by the U.S. Army for a vital task. The
KriegsmarineThe Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy between 1935 and 1945, during the Nazi regime, superseding the Reichsmarine, and the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht.-Command structure:Adolf Hitler was the commander-in-chief...
's capital ships, led by the
TirpitzTirpitz was the second Bismarck class battleship of the German Kriegsmarine, sister ship of Bismarck, named after Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz...
, and the
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1933 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.Schweizer Luftwaffe is also the name of the Swiss Air...
were threatening Allied shipping to the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
at the port of
MurmanskMurmansk is a city and seaport in the extreme northwest part of Russia, on the Kola Bay, 12 km from the Barents Sea on the northern shore of the Kola Peninsula, not far from Russia's borders with Norway and Finland....
from bases in
NorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a country in Northern Europe occupying the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, as well as Jan Mayen and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard under the Spitsbergen Treaty...
. This was, at the time, the Soviet lifeline. Thanks to successes in Africa, the U.S. was able to rehabilitate the
Trans-Iranian RailwayThe Trans-Iranian Railway was a major railway building project started in 1927 and finished in 1939, under the direction of the Persian monarch, Reza Shah, to construct a basic network of railways joining the capital Tehran to the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. The Trans-Iranian Railway was...
and extend it to the USSR, and the power they chose for it was the
RSD-1The ALCO RSD-1 was a diesel-electric locomotive built by American Locomotive Company . This model was a road switcher type rated at 1000 horsepower and rode on three-axle trucks, having a C-C wheel arrangement...
, a six-axle, six
traction motorTraction motor refers to an electric motor providing the primary rotational torque of a machine, usually for conversion into linear motion ....
variant of the light Alco. Not only was the company prevented from selling them to mainline U.S. railroads, the thirteen RS-1s that had already been built were commandeered for Iranian duty and converted to RSD-1. This gave EMD a lead in the market that could not be overcome. Also a factor was that Alco's diesel locomotives were competing with its own steam locomotive products, while EMD had no such overlap. In 1940, Alco and GE entered into a partnership to build diesels under the name
Alco-GEAlco-GE was a partnership between the American Locomotive Company and General Electric that lasted from 1940 to 1953. Their main competitor was EMD. Under this arrangement, Alco produced the locomotive body and prime mover, and GE supplied the electrical gear...
, an arrangement that lasted until 1953.
By 1948, Alco possessed 40% of the diesel locomotive market.
PAALCO PA refers to a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains built in Schenectady, New York in the United States by a partnership of the American Locomotive Company and General Electric between June, 1946 and December, 1953...
and
FAThe ALCO FA was a family of B-B diesel locomotives designed to haul freight trains. The locomotives were built by a partnership of ALCO and GE in Schenectady, New York, between January 1946 and May 1959. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead FA and cabless booster FB models...
-type road units, as well as the ubiquitous S series (
660The ALCO S-1 and S-3 were switcher diesel-electric locomotives produced by ALCO and their Canadian subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works . Basically, the two locomotives differed only in trucks, with the S-1 using ALCO's own Blunt trucks, and the S-3 riding on standard AAR type A switcher trucks...
and
1000The ALCO S2 and S4 were switcher diesel locomotives produced by ALCO and Canadian licensee Montreal Locomotive Works . Basically, the two locomotives differed only in trucks, with the S-2 using ALCO's own Blunt trucks, and the S-4 riding on standard AAR type A switcher trucks. Both were powered...
horsepower) switchers and RS series (1000,
1500The ALCO RS-2 is a , B-B road switcher railroad locomotive. It was manufactured by American Locomotive Company from October 1946 to May 1950, and 383 were produced — 374 by the American Locomotive Company, and 9 by Montreal Locomotive Works in Canada. Eight of the ALCO RS-2s were exported to...
, and
1600The ALCO RS-3 is a 1,600 hp , B-B road switcher railroad locomotive. It was manufactured by American Locomotive Company from May 1950 to August 1956, and 1,370 were produced — 1,265 for American railroads, 98 for Canadian railroads, and 7 for Mexican railroads...
horsepower)
road switcherA 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...
s represented Alco well in those years of motive power transition. Much of their success in this period can be tied to their pioneering RS locomotives, representing the first modern road-switcher, a
configurationA hood unit, in railroad terminology, is a body style for diesel and electric locomotives. On a hood unit, the body of the locomotive is less than full-width for most of the locomotive's length, with walkways on the outside of the locomotive. In contrast, a cab unit has a full-width carbody for...
which has long outlasted Alco. General Electric was represented in the electrical gear of every locomotive produced by Alco. The complete conversion to diesels, unfortunately, did not mean that Alco was to maintain this production standing.
Nevertheless, the company held the number two position in the market until
General ElectricGE Transportation, formerly known as GE Rail, is a division of General Electric. Included are GE Technology Infrastructure and GE Aircraft Engines. The organization manufactures equipment for the railroad industry as well as other industries requiring large propulsion systems. It is based in Erie,...
, dissatisfied with the results of its partnership with Alco, entered the domestic road diesel locomotive market itself in 1956. GE quickly took the number two position from Alco, and eventually eclipsed GM-EMD in overall production. Despite continual innovation in its designs (the first AC/DC transmission among others), Alco gradually succumbed to its competition, in which its former ally, General Electric, was becoming an important element. A new line of "Century" locomotives including the C630 (the first AC/DC transmission), the C430 and the C636, the first 3,600 horsepower (2.7 MW) locomotive, failed to keep the enterprise going. Third place in the market proved to be an impossible position; Alco products had neither the market position or reputation for reliability of GM-EMD's products nor the financing muscle and customer support of GE, and profits were not forthcoming. Alco gradually ceased locomotive production, shipping its last two locomotives, a pair of
T-6The Alco T6 was a diesel-electric locomotive of the switcher type rated at 1000 horsepower, that rode on two-axle trucks, having a B-B wheel arrangement....
switchers to the Newburgh and South Shore Railroad (#1016 and #1017) in January 1969. Alco closed its Schenectady locomotive plant later that year, and sold its designs to the
Montreal Locomotive WorksMontreal 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...
in
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Diversification
Although its fling with automobiles was ultimately unsuccessful, Alco diversified into other areas with greater success. During the
Second World WarWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Alco built munitions for the war effort, in addition to locomotive production; this continued throughout the
Korean WarThe Korean War is a war that started between North Korea and South Korea on 25 June 1950 and paused with an armistice signed 27 July, 1953...
. After the Korean War, Alco entered the oil production equipment and nuclear powerplant markets, the latter also starting the company's involvement in the
heat exchangerA heat exchanger is a device built for efficient heat transfer from one medium to another. The media may be separated by a solid wall, so that they never mix, or they may be in direct contact. They are widely used in space heating, refrigeration, air conditioning, power plants, chemical plants,...
business.
In 1955, the company was renamed
Alco Products, Inc. because locomotives were no longer its predominant product.
Purchase and division
The company was purchased in 1964 by the Worthington Corporation, which merged with the
StudebakerStudebaker Corporation, or simply Studebaker , was a United States wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 under the name of the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the company was originally a producer of wagons for farmers,...
corporation in 1967 to form Studebaker-Worthington, Inc. (SWI), Alco remaining a wholly owned subsidiary. Former divisions of Alco became semi-independent subsidiaries in 1968.
After the termination of locomotive production in 1969, the locomotive designs (but not the engine development rights) were transferred to the
Montreal Locomotive WorksMontreal 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...
, who continued their manufacture. The diesel engine business was sold to White Motor Corporation in 1970, who formed them into White Industrial Power. In 1977 White Industrial Power was sold to the British
The General Electric Company plcThe General Electric Company or GEC was a major UK company involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications and engineering. The Company was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index: it was renamed Marconi Corporation plc in 1999 after its defence arm was sold to British Aerospace...
(GEC) who renamed the unit Alco Power, Inc. The business was subsequently sold to the
Fairbanks-MorseFairbanks Morse and Company was a manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, locomotives and industrial supplies until it was merged in 1958...
corporation, who continue to manufacture Alco-designed engines in addition to their own design.
The heat exchanger business continued as Alco Products, Inc. for a time. At some later point, some of the heat exchanger products were manufactured by the Alco Products Division of Smithco Engineering, Inc. in Tulsa, Oklahoma (Smithco). In January, 1983, certain assets of the Alco Products Division of Smithco, namely double-pipe and hairpin-type heat exchanger products sold under the "Alco Twin" name, mark and style were sold in an asset sale by Smithco to Bos-Hatten, Inc., a subsidiary of Nitram Energy, Inc. (Nitram). Following the sale of these assets Smithco remained in business, manufacturing other heat exchange products. In 1985, the assets acquired from Smithco were assigned by Bos-Hatten, Inc. to its parent, Nitram. Nitram manufactures "Alco Twin" double-pipe and hairpin-type heat exchangers through Nitram's unincorporated Alco Products Division.
Epilogue
After the closure of Alco's Schenectady works, locomotives to Alco designs continued to be manufactured in Canada by
Montreal Locomotive WorksMontreal 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...
, and in Australia by
A. E. GoodwinA. E. Goodwin was an Australian heavy engineering firm, which produced railway locomotives and rolling stock, as well as roadmaking machinery....
. In addition, Alco-derived locomotives form the major chunk of diesel power on the
Indian RailwaysIndian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is the state-owned railway company of India, which owns and operates most of the country's rail transport...
. Many thousands of locomotives with Alco lineage are in regular mainline use everywhere in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
and around 100 new locos are added every year.
Most of these locomotives are built by the
Diesel Locomotive WorksThe Diesel Locomotive Works in Varanasi, India, is a production unit owned by Indian Railways, for which it manufactures diesel-electric locomotives and spare parts.-Company:...
(DLW), located at Varanasi, India. The Diesel Loco Modernisation Works (DMW) at Patiala, India, do mid-life rebuilding and upgrading the power of these locomotives, typically the WDM-2 to .
See also: Indian locomotivesIndian locomotive fleet consists electric and diesel engines. Steam engines are no longer used, except for heritage trains. Engines are also called "locos".The Bengal Sappers of the Indian Army were the first to run a steam locomotive in India...
.
A number of Alco and MLW diesel-electric locomotives (models DL500C, DL532B, DL537, DL543, MX627 and MX636) are in daily use hauling freight trains of the Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) in Greece. The oldest of them (class A.201, DL532B) were delivered to the former
Hellenic State RailwaysHellenic State Railways or SEK was a Greek public sector entity which was established in 1920 and operated most greek railway lines until 1970.-History:...
(SEK) in 1962. In addition to a variety of standard gauge locomotives, the fleet includes 11 metric line Alco locomotives, mainly used for departmental trains in the Peloponnese network. The MX627 and MX636 locomotives have been extensively rebuilt at Piraeus Central Factory of OSE. The remaining Alco locomotives are also being rebuilt, starting with models DL532B and DL537.
Alco and MLW locomotives still work on many regional and tourist railroads across the United States and Canada, including the
Delaware-Lackawanna RailroadThe Delaware–Lackawanna Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in Pennsylvania.The DL began service in August 1993 and is the designated operator for 85 miles of trackage in Lackawanna and Monroe Counties...
in
Scranton, PennsylvaniaScranton is a city in the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, United States. It is the county seat of Lackawanna County and the largest principal city in the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to figures released by the United States Census Bureau in 2000,...
, the
Livonia, Avon and Lakeville RailroadThe Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad is an all-ALCO short line railroad that operates in Livingston County and Monroe County in New York, United States...
family of lines based in Lakeville, New York, and the Middeltown and Hummelstown Railroad in Middletown, PA. The M&H owns one of the last true ALCO switchers ever built, #1016. The 1016 is a T-6 type switcher engine. This and ALCO sister 151 (ex Western Maryland
S-6The Alco S-6 was a diesel-electric locomotive of the switcher type constructed by ALCO of Schenectady, New York; a total of 126 locomotives were built between May 1955 and December 1960. The S-6 was a development of the earlier S-5; instead of the 800 hp ALCO 251 engine on the previous...
) still see daily service in Middletown.
Some Alcos survive on Australian networks and in Pakistan. Another fleet of Alco Bombardier locomotives run in rugged terrain on the Sri Lanka railway network.
The Glenbrook Vintage Railway in the Franklin District, south of Auckland, New Zealand, has a
2-4-4-2In Whyte notation, 2-4-4-2 refers to a railroad steam locomotive that has two leading wheels followed by four coupled driving wheels, a second set of four coupled driving wheels, and two trailing wheels.Other equivalent classifications are:
...
articulated compound mallet, built by ALCO in 1912. Only four mallets with this wheel arrangement were ever built; the other three by Baldwin. This unique loco is currently out of service awaiting overhaul.
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