ALCO S-1 and S-3

{{Infobox locomotive

| name = ALCO S-1 and S-3

| image = MCRY 7 20041010.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Mid-Continent Railway {{Abbr|No.|Number}} 7, an S-1, rests between trains on October 10, 2004

| powertype = Diesel

| builder = {{Plainlist|

}}

| ordernumber =

| serialnumber =

| buildmodel =

| builddate = {{Plainlist|

April 1940–June 1950 (S-1)
February 1950–November 1953 (S-3)

}}

| totalproduction = {{Plainlist|

543 (S-1)
300 (S-3)

}}

| rebuilder =

| rebuilddate =

| numberrebuilt =

| aarwheels = B-B

| uicclass =

| gauge = {{track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}

| trucks = {{Plainlist|

Blunt (S-1)
AAR type A (S-3)

}}

| bogies =

| wheeldiameter = {{convert|40|in|0|abbr=on}}

| trailingdiameter =

| minimumcurve = 50° ({{convert|118.31|ft|abbr=on|disp=or}})

| wheelbase = {{convert|30|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}

| length = {{convert|45|ft|2|abbr=on}}

| width = {{convert|10|ft|2+1/2|in|abbr=on}}

| height = {{convert|14|ft|4+3/8|in|abbr=on}}

| axleload =

| weightondrivers =

| locoweight = {{convert|199,000|lb|abbr=on}}

| fueltype =

| fuelcap = {{convert|635|usgal|L impgal|abbr=on}}

| lubecap =

| coolantcap =

| watercap =

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| powersupply =

| consumption =

| watercons =

| primemover = ALCO 6-539T

| rpmrange =

| enginetype = Four-stroke diesel

| aspiration = Natural

| displacement = {{convert|9572|cuin|L|abbr=on}}

| alternator =

| generator = GE GT 552-A

| tractionmotors =4 × GE 731

| headendpower =

| cylindercount = Straight 6

| cylindersize = {{convert|12+1/2|×|13|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}

| transmission =

| multipleworking =

| maxspeed =

| poweroutput = {{convert|660|hp|kW|abbr=on}}

| tractiveeffort = {{convert|49,790|lb|abbr=on}}

| factorofadhesion =

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| locale = North America, Brazil, United Kingdom

| deliverydate =

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| notes = {{Foster-Field Guide|page=6}}{{Dorin-North Western|pages=134–135}}

}}

The ALCO S-1 and S-3 were {{convert|660|hp}} 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 {{convert|1000|hp}} 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.{{Pinkepank diesel spotters guide 2|pages=221–222}}

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers
class="wikitable sortable"
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
class="wikitable"
colspan="3" \| 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
colspan="3" !\| 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.Kirkland, John, "The Diesel Builders, volume 2: Also" Interurban Press, 1989

Preservation

File:S3 Diesel Electric Locomotive.jpg

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

Ex-U.S. Army S-1 {{Abbr|No.|Number}} 7372 is at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum and painted in Western Pacific colors.{{cite web | url=http://www.wplives.org/locomotivepages/wp512.html | title=Western Pacific 512 | work=Western Pacific Railroad Museum | access-date=28 November 2015}}
Ex-Canadian Pacific MLW S-3 {{Abbr|No.|Number}} 6568 is at the Saskatchewan Railway Museum.{{cite web|url=http://saskrailmuseum.org/index.php/our-collection/rolling-stock/locomotives/ |title=Locomotives |work=Saskatchewan Railway Museum |access-date=28 November 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208123501/http://saskrailmuseum.org/index.php/our-collection/rolling-stock/locomotives/ |archive-date=8 December 2015 }}
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.{{Cite web |title=Locomotive Lawn |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/locomotive-lawn |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Atlas Obscura |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=BEDT #25 - Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal - American Locomotive 74962 - built: October 1946 |url=http://members.trainweb.com/bedt/bedt/BEDT25.html |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=members.trainweb.com}}
Ex-Tennessee Central No. 51, later Cadiz Railroad No. 8, was on display in Trigg County, KY near exit 65 of Interstate 24. The unit is now currently in private ownership in nearby Christian County.{{cite web |last1=Marlowe |first1=Edward |title=Cadiz Locomotive Bound For Christian County Collecto |url=https://www.wkdzradio.com/2022/03/16/cadiz-locomotive-bound-for-christian-county-collector/news-edge/ |website=WKZD |access-date=4 February 2025 |date=16 March 2022}}
Ex-New York Central No. 872, later Bath and Hammondsport No. 5, was acquired by the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum in March 2025.{{Cite web |last=Franz |first=Justin |date=2025-03-07 |title=Museum Acquires Bath & Hammondsport Alco Switcher |url=https://railfan.com/museum-acquires-bath-hammondsport-alco-switcher/ |access-date=2025-03-15 |website=Railfan & Railroad Magazine |language=en-CA}}