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The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that built locomotives, diesel generators, steel and tanks. The company was formed in 1901 by the merger of Schenectady Locomotive Engine Manufactory of Schenectady, New York, with seven smaller locomotive manufacturers. The American Locomotive Automobile Company subsidiary designed and manufactured automobiles under the Alco brand from 1905 to 1913 and produced nuclear energy from 1954 to 1962.

The company changed its name to Alco Products, Incorporated in 1955. In 1964, the Worthington Corporation acquired the company. The company went out of business in 1969.

Foundation and early history

The plant in 1906

The company was created in 1901 from the merger of seven smaller locomotive manufacturers with Schenectady Locomotive Engine Manufactory of Schenectady, New York:^[1][2]

The newly formed company was headquartered in Schenectady, New York.^[2] Samuel R. Callaway left the presidency of the New York Central Railroad to become president of Alco.^[3] When Callaway died on June 1, 1904,^[4] Albert J. Pitkin succeeded him as president of Alco.^[5]

In 1904, the American Locomotive Company acquired control of the Locomotive and Machine Company of Montreal, Quebec, Canada; this company was eventually renamed the Montreal Locomotive Works. In 1905, Alco purchased Rogers Locomotive Works of Paterson, New Jersey, the second largest locomotive manufacturer in the United States behind Baldwin Locomotive Works.^[2]

In the post World War II period, Alco operated manufacturing plants only in Schenectady and Montreal, having closed all the others. After the American Locomotive Company ceased locomotive manufacturing in the United States in 1969, Montreal Locomotive Works continued to manufacture locomotives based on Alco designs.

Steam locomotives

Milwaukee Road 261, a 1944 American 4-8-4 steam locomotive

Alco was the second-largest steam locomotive builder in the United States (after Baldwin Locomotive Works), producing over 75,000 locomotives (though not all were steam, since, unlike Baldwin, Alco transitioned more readily to Diesel). Among these were a large number of well-known locomotives. Railroads that favored Alco products included the Delaware & Hudson Railway, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, the New York Central Railroad, the Union Pacific Railroad and the Milwaukee Road. Alco was known for its steam locomotives of which the 4-6-4 Hudson, 4-8-2 Mohawk and the 4-8-4 Niagara built for the New York Central and the 4-8-4 FEF and the 4-6-6-4 (Challenger) built for the Union Pacific were fine examples. Alco built many of the biggest locomotives ever constructed, including Union Pacific's Big Boy (4-8-8-4). Alco also built the fastest American locomotives, the Class A Atlantic and Class F7 Hudson streamliners for the Milwaukee Road's Twin Cities Hiawatha run. Among the ambitious state-of-the-art designs of the late steam era, Alco's Challengers, Big Boys and high speed streamliners stood out for their in-service success.

American No 75214 Tr2 1319 at the Finnish Railway Museum

Other than the Delaware & Hudson's application of SKF roller bearings to the drivers, main and side rods of their own 4-6-2 locomotives in 1924 (the world's first), Alco built the first production steam locomotive in North America to use roller bearings: Timken 1111, a 4-8-4 commissioned in 1930 by Timken Roller Bearing Company was used for 100,000 miles (160,000 km) on fifteen major United States railroads before it was purchased in 1933 by the Northern Pacific Railway. (The Northern Pacific renumbered the Four Aces to No. 2626 and ran it on the North Coast Limited, as well as its pool trains between Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, and excursions, through 1957.)

Narrow gauge Alco locomotive built for the military service behind the trenches of World War I

During World War II, Alco produced many 2-10-0 Decapods for the USSR. Many of these were undelivered at the end of the war, and ten of these were sold to Finland in 1947. One, Alco builder's No. 75214, is preserved at the Finnish Railway Museum.^[6]

Though the dual-service 4-8-4 steam locomotive had shown great promise, 1948 was the last year that steam locomotives were manufactured in Schenectady. These were the seven A-2a class 9400-series Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad 2-8-4 "Berkshires." Their tenders had to be subcontracted to Lima Locomotive Works, as Alco's tender shop had been closed. The building was converted to diesel locomotive manufacture, to compete with locomotives manufactured by the automobile industry.^[7]

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 automobile business in 1906, producing French Berliet designs under license. Production was located at Alco's Rhode Island Locomotive Works in Providence, Rhode Island. Two years later, the Berliet license was abandoned, and the company began to produce its own designs instead. An Alco racing car won the Vanderbilt Cup in both 1909 and 1910 and competed in the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, driven on all three occasions by Harry Grant. But, ALCO's automotive venture was unprofitable, and they abandoned automobile manufacture in 1913.^[8] The Alco automobile story is notable chiefly as a step in the automotive career of Walter P. Chrysler, who worked as the plant manager. In 1911 he left Alco for Buick in Detroit, Michigan, where he subsequently founded the Chrysler Corporation in 1925.

American Locomotive Automobile Company - Berliet - 1906.
An Alco winning the 1910 Vanderbilt Cup.
1912 Alco

Electric Locomotives

Alco made 60-ton center cab electric freight motors from 1912 through the 1920s for electric railway lines in Oregon. ^[9]

Diesel-electric locomotives

For a list of Alco diesel locomotive models, see List of ALCO diesel locomotives.

Alco RSD-16 used for freight services in Argentina, 1999.

Although strongly committed to the steam locomotive, ALCo produced the first commercially successful diesel-electric switch engine in 1924 in a consortium with General Electric (electrical equipment) and Ingersoll-Rand (diesel engine). This locomotive was sold to the Central Railroad of New Jersey. It built additional locomotives for a number of railroads, including the Long Island Rail Road and the Chicago and North Western Railway.

The company bought the McIntosh & Seymour Diesel Engine Company in 1929 and henceforth produced its own diesel engines. Its electrical equipment was always from GE. The diesel program was largely overseen by Perry T. Egbert, vice president in charge of diesel locomotive sales and later president of the company.^[10] In the early to middle 1930s, ALCo was the pre-eminent builder of diesel-electric switch engines in the United States but the Electro-Motive Corporation was expanding the realm of diesel power to mainline service, first with custom streamliner trainsets then with production design locomotives for passenger, then freight service. ALCo provided motive power for the Rebel streamliners in 1935 but remained focused on low power applications while General Motors (owner of EMC) was developing reliable diesel power for full-size mainline trains. In 1939, ALCo started production of passenger diesel locomotives to compete with those produced by EMC. The following year, ALCo entered into a partnership with General Electric (Alco-GE), for much-needed support in their efforts to compete with EMC. In 1941 ALCo introduced the RS-1, the first road-switcher locomotive. The versatile road-switcher design gained favor for short-haul applications, which would provide ALCo a secure market niche through the 1940s. The entry of the United States into World War II froze ALCo's development of road diesel locomotives. During that time, ALCo was allocated the construction of diesel switching locomotives, their new road-switcher locomotives, a small quantity of ALCO DL-109 dual-service engines and its proven steam designs, while EMD (formerly EMC) was allocated the construction of mainline road freight diesels (the production of straight passenger-service engines was prohibited by the War Production Board). The postwar era saw ALCo's steam products fall out of favor while they struggled to develop mainline diesel locomotives competitive with EMD's E and F series road locomotives, which were well positioned from GM-EMC's large development efforts of the 1930s and their established service infrastructure. ALCo would prove unable to overcome that lead.

An ALCO S-1 diesel switcher at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum, North Freedom, Wisconsin

Alco's revolutionary RS-1 roadswitcher was selected by the United States Army for a vital task. ALCo ranked 34th among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts.^[11] The Kriegsmarine's capital ships, led by the Tirpitz, and the Luftwaffe were threatening Allied shipping to the Soviet Union at the port of Murmansk from bases in Norway. This was, at the time, the Soviet lifeline. Thanks to successes in Africa, the U.S. was able to rehabilitate the Trans-Iranian Railway and extend it to the USSR. They chose as locomotives the RSD-1, a six-axle, six traction motor variant of the light ALCo RS-1. Not only was the company prevented from selling these locomotives to mainline U.S. railroads, the thirteen RS-1s that had already been built were commandeered for Iranian duty and converted to RSD-1.^[7]

ALCO wordmark recreation

In 1946, ALCo controlled 26% of the diesel locomotive market.^[10] The ubiquitous S series (660 and 1000 horsepower) switchers and RS series (1000 and 1500 horsepower) road switchers represented ALCo well during the late 1940s. Much of their success in this period can be tied to their pioneering RS locomotives, representing the first modern road-switcher, a configuration which has long outlasted ALCo. The success of their switcher and road-switcher locomotives was not matched with the PA and FA-type mainline units, however. The 244 engine, developed in a crash program to compete with the power available with EMD's 567 engine, proved unreliable and sales of ALCo's mainline units soon went into decline. In 1948 ALCo-GE produced a prototype gas turbine-electric locomotive, a play to address the concerns of operators such as Union Pacific who sought to minimize the number of locomotive units needed for large power requirements. In 1949, ALCo embarked on a clean-sheet design project to replace the 244. 1949 also saw the introduction of the EMD GP7 road-switcher, a direct challenge in ALCo's bread-and-butter market.

In 1953, General Electric, dissatisfied with the dilatory pace of ALCo's efforts to develop a replacement for the troubled 244 engine, dissolved their partnership with ALCo and took over the gas turbine-electric venture that had started series production the previous year. In 1956 ALCo made long-overdue changes, modernizing their production process and introducing road locomotives with their new 251 engine. However, the benefits to ALCo were negated by bad timing; the market for locomotives was declining after the height of the dieselization era and EMD's GP9 was on the market as a proven competitor backed by a service infrastructure that ALCo, since the dissolution of the GE partnership, lacked. Sales were disappointing and ALCo's profitability suffered.^[10] GE entered the export road diesel locomotive market in 1956. GE introduced their newest locomotive to the domestic market in 1960, quickly took the number two position from ALCo, and eventually eclipsed 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 an important element. A new line of Century locomotives including the 630 (the first AC/DC transmission), the 430 and the 636, 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 EMD's products, nor the financing muscle and customer support of GE. It could not earn enough profits. In the late 1960s Alco gradually ceased locomotive production, shipping its last two locomotives, a pair of T-6 switchers to the Newburgh & South Shore Railroad (#1016 and #1017) in January 1969.^[7] ALCo closed its Schenectady locomotive plant later that year, and sold its designs to the Montreal Locomotive Works in Canada.

Diversification

Alco diversified into areas other than automobiles with greater success. During World War II, Alco built munitions for the war effort, in addition to locomotive production; this continued throughout the Korean War. After the Korean War, Alco entered the oil production equipment and nuclear power plant markets. With the latter, it began to manufacture heat exchangers for nuclear plants.

In 1955, the company was renamed Alco Products, Incorporated. By this stage locomotive production only accounted for 20% of the business.^[12][13]

A complete nuclear power plant, the PM-2A, was built for the Army Nuclear Power Program in 1960.

Purchase and division

The company was purchased in 1964 by the Worthington Corporation, which merged with the Studebaker corporation in 1967 to form Studebaker-Worthington, Inc. (SWI), Alco remaining a wholly owned subsidiary.^[14] 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 Works, which continued their manufacture. The diesel engine business was sold to White Motor Corporation in 1970, which developed White Industrial Power. In 1977 White Industrial Power was sold to the British The General Electric Company plc (GEC) which renamed the unit Alco Power, Inc. The business was subsequently sold to the Fairbanks-Morse corporation, which continues 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. In 2008, Nitram was acquired by Peerless Mfg. Co.^[15] In 2015, Peerless sold its heat exchanger business to Koch Heat Transfer Co.^[16]

Epilogue

ALCO 251 engine used as a backup generator at a wastewater plant in Montreal

After the closure of Alco's Schenectady works, locomotives to Alco designs continued to be manufactured in Canada by Montreal Locomotive Works and in Australia by AE Goodwin. In addition, Alco-derived locomotives form the major chunk of diesel power on the Indian Railways. Many thousands of locomotives with Alco lineage are in regular mainline use everywhere in India, and around 100 new locos are added every year.

Most of these locomotives are built by the Diesel Locomotive Works (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 2,600 horsepower (1.94 MW) WDM-2 to 3,100 horsepower (2.31 MW). See also: Indian locomotives.

Alco DL537 metre gauge locomotive of the Hellenic Railways Organisation at Corinth Old Railway Station, Greece.

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 Railways (SEK) in 1962. In addition to a variety of standard gauge locomotives, the fleet includes 11 metre gauge 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.

The ALCO 251 diesel engine is still manufactured by Fairbanks-Morse of Beloit, Wisconsin, a company which also manufactured diesel locomotives. Additionally, Alco diesel engines are used to power the NASA Crawler Transporter.^[17]

Alco and MLW locomotives still work on many regional and tourist railroads across the United States and Canada, including the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the Catskill Mountain Railroad in Kingston and Phoenecia; the Livonia, Avon and Lakeville Railroad family of lines based in Lakeville, New York, the Lake Whatcom Railway in Wickersham, Washington and the Middletown & Hummelstown Railroad in Middletown, Pennsylvania. The latter 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 Railway S-6) provide daily service in Middletown. Two original Alco RS-2's that were delivered to the Nevada Northern Railway are still in operation.

ALCO-Cooke 2-8-0 #18, built in 1920, survives in passenger service on the Arcade & Attica Railroad in Arcade, New York. It returned to service in May 2009 after a six-year overhaul to bring it into compliance with the FRA's new steam locomotive regulations.

Great Western 60, a 2-8-0 built in Schenectady in 1937, currently operates in passenger service on the Black River & Western Railroad in Ringoes, NJ.

Alco RSD-16 were used in San Martín Line of Argentina until 2014.

Some Alcos survive on Australian networks, as well as in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Another fleet of Alco Bombardier locomotives run in rugged terrain on the Sri Lanka railway network. Argentina also has a healthy fleet of Alcos DL540 running commuter and cargo trains.

The Glenbrook Vintage Railway New Zealand, has a 2-4-4-2 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.

During the 1970s, Romania's UCMR Resita made licensed engines from ALCo, putting the engines 6&12R251 into naval gensets and also with the 6R251 in FAUR factory were made locomotives known as LDH 1500 CP. (CFR Classes 67/68/70/71 and CFR Class 61). They were also exported in Iran and Greece (OSE)

Preserved Alco Steam Locomotives

While regular production of steam locomotives by Alco ended in the 1950s, Alco-built steam engines have been preserved in locations across North America. They can be found on the Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, Nevada; in the Orange Empire Railway Museum in California, on the Lake Whatcom Railway in Washington and on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado. Several Alco-built mainline engines are still operational, such as Union Pacific 844, Union Pacific 3985, Milwaukee Road 261 and Soo Line 1003. What is probably the most famous Alco steam locomotive ever built, Union Pacific Big Boy 4014, has been restored by the Union Pacific Railroad for excursion service.

In Portugal an Alco 2-8-2 locomotive built 1945 (Construction number: 73480) is undergoing major restoration to be displayed at the National Railway Museum at Entroncamento.^[18]

WW2 Museum - American Locomotive Company

By Sarah Jones ; Source : [HI000H][GDrive]

The American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, NY, founded in 1845, was an important producer of locomotives and tanks for the war. In 1939, ALCO's output was $22,358. By 1943, in the midst of the war, it had increased by over 1800 percent to $428,905,600. During the first four years of the war, ALCO produced more than it had in the first twenty-five years of the 20th century. As Lieut. Gen. Somervell, the Commanding General, Army Service Forces, said "The American Locomotive Company has been in the forefront of our armament program."

On November 23, 1940, more than a year before Pearl Harbor, the Schenectady plant received a contract to build medium tanks. They immediately began the conversion of their locomotive manufacturing buildings, dedicating thousands of square feet to the production of tanks. ALCO continued to assemble locomotives alongside the tanks. By April 19, 1941, the first of these tanks was successfully tested and approved by government officials. Having never before built a tank, ALCO was the first to produce a M3 "General Lee" tank that was satisfactory to the army. ALCO also manufactured the M4 "General Sherman" tank.

In 1942, William Lentz, the Schenectady plant manager, lobbied for a contract to build a tank killer. After obtaining the contract from the US government, ALCO began design and production of a tank destroyer, the M7, nicknamed "The Priest". The Schenectady plant designed and manufactured the first M7 in only nineteen days, using the M3 tank chassis. The M7 was equipped with a 105 mm howitzer which had a range of seven miles. It proved crucial during the battle of El Alamein in Egypt, in November of 1942. The British army surprised Rommel's forces when one thousand M7s burst suddenly on the scene and stopped the German advance through North Africa. Even though the M7 had been in production in Schenectady for months, not a word had leaked to German ears. Schenectady became known as "The city that kept a secret." Don Godard declared on radio station WEAF on January 4, 1943, "For months, thousands of employees of the American Locomotive plant up in Schenectady were engaged in the production of a secret weapon. Practically all of them knew what it was they were building - the most destructive anti-tank device the world had ever seen... It came to the Germans as a complete surprise. A complete surprise thanks to the fact that thousands of employees... were able to keep their lips buttoned up since June." The hard work done by ALCO turned the tide in North Africa. In all, ALCO produced approximately 6,000 tanks during WWII.

To thank the ALCO employees, representatives of the American and British Armies celebrated "M7 Tank Day" in Schenectady on April 10, 1943, the anniversary of ALCO's delivery of the M7 prototype. In a ceremony at Liberty Park, a time capsule, with a hammer used on the first M7 and sand from the Sahara, was buried under a stone marker. The highlight of the day was when tanks paraded down Erie Boulevard, featuring the M7.

ALCO also produced 1,086 steam and 157 diesel locomotives for the war effort. Many of these were used on the Trans-Iranian Railroad. In late 1942, Russia needed supplies because the Nazi U-boats had crippled the Murmansk sea convoy route. The US military repaired the old and inadequate Iranian Railroad and ALCO renovated 57 locomotives to run on it. The locomotives were delivered at the Persian Gulf and rode up to Tehran. The first locomotive reached Tehran in March 1943. Two ALCO locomotives that served on the railroad were the 8000 (Susquehanna) and the 8008. Both were requisitioned by the US government and were modified by ALCO to run on the Iranian tracks. By May 1943, the Russian requirement for munitions was exceeded by 18 percent. Many of the workers who operated the Trans-Iranian Railroad were trained at ALCO or were former ALCO employees now in the army.

The products produced at ALCO were vital to the victory of the Allies. The locomotives that were modified and built at ALCO supplied the Russians via the Trans-Iranian Railroad and the M7 tank killer was used to great effect in North Africa and in Europe. Many NY factories helped to arm the Allies, including those at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and the Watervliet Arsenal. Allied success in WWII was due in part to the great work and the dedication of the industries and workers of the State of New York.

TODO -

https://www.nytimes.com/1972/05/26/archives/r-b-mgoll-led-logomotiye-firm-schenectady-concern-headi-from-1945to.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xMhN3kPjp4

https://dailygazette.com/article/2014/05/24/reactor-alco-site-be-moved-or-notm

http://www.thuleforum.com/alco/

SM-1 L Small Modular Nuclear Reactor

See 🌐SM-1

Research and development of the reactor design was conducted in 1952–54 at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, under the guidance of the Package Power Group. Funding for the reactor was approved in 1954 and bids to construct the facility were received from 18 companies, ranging in price from $2 million to $7 million.^[3] According to Time magazine of 18 July 1955, the Army selected the low bid ($2,096,753), submitted by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO Products) of Schenectady, New York, and awarded the contract in December 1954.^[4]

The name "SM-1" stands for Stationary, Medium-size reactor, prototype #1. The pressurized-water reactor (PWR) design developed by the AEC was a heterogeneous, water-cooled and water-moderated, stainless steel system, using highly enriched (93%) uranium dioxide mixture as fuel.^[5]

The term "package" in the name Army Package Power Reactor refers to the program objective of designing a compact nuclear power plant whose components could be packed for delivery to remote facilities aboard large military transport aircraft. The SM-1 served as the prototype for the SM-1A power plant, which was constructed at Fort Greely, Alaska between 1960–62. The reactor core itself was compact, about the size of a household dishwasher.^[6]

At a press conference held on 19 August 1954, (then) Major General Sturgis, Chief of Engineers, announced the plan by the Army and the AEC to build the "package" power plant at Fort Belvoir. A location in a "closed area" of the garrison had been selected, near a point at which Accotink Bay (aka, Gunston Cove) joins the Potomac River. The general said the design of the package reactor resembles the nuclear power plant on the US Navy's (newly launched) nuclear submarine Nautilus. He also said the reactor could be housed in a building 29 feet wide, 42 feet high and 80 feet long. The Army was sending out a request for proposals, that day, to "33 qualified bidders", and companies were being asked to come up with a "competitive lump-sum bid", rather than a cost-plus estimate.^[7]On 14 December 1954, the AEC announced that the contract was being given to American Locomotive Company of New York, whose $2 million bid was the lowest of the 18 proposals received.^[8] Asking companies to submit a lump-sum bid was hailed, at that time, as a sign of how much progress had been made in reactor power plant design by mid-1954, such that companies now had sufficient experience and could calculate costs with confidence.

Construction of the building to house the reactor began on 5 October 1955 in the southeast "corner" of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, alongside Gunston Cove, off the Potomac River. According to a news note in the December 1955 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, "Construction of the 'package' or portable reactor has been started at Fort Belvoir, VA. Alco Products is the contractor for the Defense Department and the AEC. The reactor will generate about 2,000 kilowatts of electricity, enough for a community of about 5,000 people."^[9] Alco Products supplied the reactor, pressurizer and steam generator, while Westinghouse Electric Corporation supplied the canned-rotor pumps, General Electric supplied the turbine and generator, the Lummus Company supplied the condenser, and Minneapolis-Honeywell installed the controls. By late October 1955, the Army pushed ALCO to accelerate construction towards a completion date of 10 July 1957.^[10] As a result, all major work was completed by March 1957.