Louis A Marre Collection

J David Ingles.

The million-J. DAVID INGLES

I CA-THUNK. CA-THUNK. The

tower operator busily squeezedand slammed the electropneumaticinterlocking control handles. "First

NY-99's on it," he said. His manner

was the matter-of-fact, not-too-busy-to-be-informative one typical of a

workaday railroader whose 8-hour

trick had been intruded upon by a

< visiting railfan.

Mgaum.

.0,1

:u >

Donald Sims

ALCO'S BIG BID TO BE BEST-1

niles-before -overhaul diesei

The F's most formidable competitor

I descended the stairs of the tower

and picked my way around the slipswitches and across the multiple-track main line to the sunny side of

the tracks to set up for photos. Plentyof time. But hark! A headlight to the

east mushroomed into yellow and

black detail. Engines were throttled

down as the train neared the inter

locking plant. NY-99 was here. Rattle,

bang, screech. Five Alcos in perfectA-B-B-B-A formation rattled throughthe plant, then accelerated, pouringout the black smoke characteristic of

their breed as they notched up for

Marion, O. Their stark, squarish out

lines were framed against the back

light of the glinting low sunlight of

the late afternoon. Box cars and pig

gybacks swished through the turn

outs, singing a song of big-time rail

roading. A bay-windowed red hack,

hanging on for dear life, bounced byand brought down the curtain on myintroduction to the brand-new Erie

Lackawanna.

Two more symbol freights, one

eastbound and one westbound, and

each also with Alco covered wagonsin charge, soon followed.

TRAINS 23

© 2014 Kalmbach Publishing Co. This material may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher. www.TrainsMag.com

J. Parker Lamb

] Parker Lamb.

GULF, MOBILE & OHIO concentrated its FA's on lines south of St. Louis.

The FA's worked on all types of trains. Two units on a local left Meridian,Miss, (above) in August 1950, and a quintet led a road freight through a snow-

covered cut near Union, Miss, (above right) in December 1960. No. 752

and RS2 1508 rested at Meridian (right) in June 1954. GM&O's first three

FA's originally bore Alco-GE numbers (below) for publicity purposes.

C. W. Jernstrom Collection, courtesy of Extra 2200 South. J. Parker Lamb.

Jim Shaughnessy.

NEW HAVEN'S FA's first were painted orange with silver

striping (below); green and yellow were adopted later.

The FA's primary haunt was the Maybrook (N.Y.) line. A

five-unit set left Maybrook in June 1958 (right). At New

Haven (above), FA's mingled with a DL109 and a C-Liner.

Jim SI

They bought big

Stan Kistler Dick Turner.

UNION PACIFIC was the only FA operator in the Southwest; it used the Alcos on the old

Los Angeles & Salt Lake. On October 30, 1950, in the days before nose M.U., two four-

unit sets doubleheaded up the eastbound track in Cajon Pass (left) with 80 cars. On Feb

ruary 15, 1954, shop personnel at UP's East Los Angeles facility checked an FBI (right).

To a Detroiter, such an experiencewith FA's in October 1960 should

have been old hat. New York Central's

legions of them often called at the

West Detroit engine terminal; all-

FA Ann Arbor was in my back yard;B&O occasionally sent Alcos up to

nearby Toledo; and the two big Ca

nadian roads regularly assigned Mont

real-built cabs to runs into Windsor,

just across the Detroit River. But at

SN tower in eastern Ohio I had wit

nessed FA's in nice matched A-B-B-A

quartets (and a quintet) holding down

a big road's major freights, taking

apart the urbanized countryside at a

liberal speed. True, those trains had

given me a new perspective on the

former Erie, a road with which my

prior contact had been minimal; but

if EMD F's had been on the point of

those freights that afternoon, the in

cident would long have been forgotten .

Just as they are for younger fans in

the 1970's, the objectives for those of

us who hunted new diesels and new

roads and explored new territory in

the early Sixties were the minoritylocomotives. FA's were a strong, com

pelling minority.

Today, FA's hang on in Canada and

in Mexico, but there are none servingas motive power in the United States.

Only on the Long Island Rail Road

can you see FA's in action, bringing

up one end of conventional-equipment

push-pull trains powered by C420's

at the opposite end. The emasculated

Alco cab units look as fine as always,but they're on hand solely as a source

of auxiliary power for train services

and as a haven for a crew on the

"push" end of the train when that end

leads. Even this arrangement has a

calculated short life span, for the con

ventional train on the LIRR is doomed

to be replaced by an all-self-poweredfleet. The last FA's to power American

trains did so on Burlington Northern

in Oregon in May 1972.

What niche in dieseldom did the

FA's fill? They were a pleasant change

esthetically and proved to be adequate

mechanically. In the filled-order-book

days of two and a half decades ago

during the post-World War II rush

toward dieselization the FA's were a

logical choice for Alcos regular customers and sometimes an opportunistic alternative for diesel-hungry roads

which were shopping at all outlets.

To put the FA into perspective, re

member that the total number of Alco

FA cabs and boosters 1401was

two dozen less than that of domestic

F7 boosters (F7B's) alone. The total

North American production of Elec

tro-Motive F's models FT throughF9, including dual-service units such

as the FP7 as well as boosters was

close to 6500.

FA's are virile-looking beasts, com

bining the distinctive headlight and

nose styling (which is scaled down a

bit from that of the classic PA) with

AAR type B road trucks, squarish but

not awkward lines, and generally at

tractive screenwork. For those per

sons who would literally look down

on the FA, the covering over the single72-inch radiator cooling fan toward

the rear of the roof of the unit is a

topside focal point. Augment these

features with the unforgettable ruggedsound of Alco's VI 2 244 four-cycleturbocharged engine, and you have

the basic components which are

etched in the memories of those ob

servers who have witnessed FA's tack

ling the high iron.But just what is an "FA"? Strictly

speaking, the label applies only to the

cab-equipped versions of the 1500

h.p. and 1600 h.p. B-B units marketed

by the alliance of Alco and General

Electric. The booster units are des

ignated FB's, and units equippedwith steam generators to heat passen

ger trains carry FPA or FPB designations. However, for practicality, and

to avoid confusion with the simple"F" label uniformly given to Electro-

Motive's series, all Alco "covered wag

ons" with four-motor trucks are

lumped together as "FA's."

They were produced in the U.S.

from 1946 to 1956; Gulf, Mobile &

Ohio got the first ones and Louisville

& Nashville the last ones. The Alco-

GE alliance dated from 1940 and last

ed until 1953, so FA's built thereafter

bore only the Alco name. FA's also

were produced in Canada by Alco li

censee Montreal Locomotive Works.

There were two basic models of FA:

the 1500 h.p. FA1 (and FBI); and a

redesigned version (with a new-mod

elmain generator) of 1600 h.p., termed

FA2(and FB2). Variants are late FAl'son which the rated horsepower was

1600 instead of 1500; an adaptationof the "2" series for passenger work

(FPA and FPB); and the "4" series.

The "4" series was an 1800 h.p. version which boasted a newer primemover. As it turned out, the only ex

amples built were passenger units byMLW in 1958 and 1959 for Canadian

National.

The model designations taken for

granted and in universal usage todaywere not part of Alco-GE's lexicon in

the 1940's when the road-freight die-sel concept pioneered by Electro-Motive was developing. The first Alco-GE freight cab units were referred to

simply as "1500 s" for the rated horse-

TRAINS 25

1400 FA'S: AN ALCO ACCOUNTING

QTY. MODEL ROAD NOS.ANN AR80R

14 FA2 50/50A-56/56ABALTIMORE & OHIO

28 FA2 4000-4007,4018-4037

UNITED STATES

BUILT NOTES

1950 52A, 55A, SOA, 55 to Wabash 820-823 in 1964

1 950-1 953 4000-4037 delivered as 801 /80 1 A-837/837A (odd num

bers) 4028-4037 renumbered 4128-4137 in 1965

16 FB2 5000-5003.5009-5020 1950-1953 5000-5020 delivered as 801 X-837X, 81 7AX, 837AX (odd

numbers, not in same sequence) 5016-5020 renumbered

4106-41 10 in 1965

1950-1951

1950-1951

10 FPA2 4008-4017

5 FPB2 5004-5008

BURLINGTON NORTHERN

11 FA1 4100-4108,4112-4122

(even numbers)

1 FA2 4126

CHICAGO & NORTH WESTERN

2 FA2 4103A, 4104A

2 FB2 4103B, 4104B

ERIE (ERIE LACKAWANNA)

22 FA1 725A/D-735A/D

22 FB1 725B/C-735B/C

8 FA2 736A/D-739A/D8 FB2 736B/C-739B/CGREAT NORTHERN

1948-1950 Ex-SP&S 856-860, 862-867 All cai

name 4102, 4100. 4120. 4104

61 1-616 in 1972

1950 Ex-SP&S 869 Carried SPSS colors and nam

ed SP&S colors and

4116, 4108 to LI

1950

1950

Ex-AIco demonstrators 1603A, 1603D. acquired in 1951

Ex-AIco demonstrators 1603B, 1603C, acquired in 1951

4 FAT 276A/B. 310A/C1 FBI' 310B

4 FA1 440A/D, 442A/D4 FBI 440B/C, 442B/C2 FA2 278A, 279A

2 FB2 278B, 279B

2 FPA2 277A/B

GREEN BAY & WESTERN

5 FA1 501-503, 506-507

GULF. MOBILE & OHIO

55 FA1 700-754

29 FBI B1-B29

4 FBI- B30-B33

4 FB2 B34-B37

LEHIGH & NEW ENGLAND

10 FA1 701-710

3 FB1 751-753

LEHIGH VALLEY

10 FA1 530-548 (even numbers)

10 FBI 53 1-549 (odd numbers)8 FA2 580-594 (even numbers)

4 FB2 58 1-587 (odd numbers)

LONG ISLAND

8 FA1 611-618

1947-1949 To Erie Lackawanna 7251 /7254-7351 /7354 in 1960

1 947-1 949 To Erie Lackawanna 7252/7253-7352/7353 in 1 960

725A/D- 732A/D originally 709A/D= 71 6A/D.1950-1951 To Erie Lackawanna 7361/7364-7391/7394 in 1960

1950-1951 To Erie Lackawanna 7362/7363-7392/7393 in 1960,

1950

1950

1948-1949 To SP&S 862-865 in 1950

1948-1949 To SP&S 206-209 in 1950

1950 Ex-AIco demonstrators 1 602A/D

1950 Ex-AIco demonstrators 1602B/C1950

1947-1949 501-503 carried KGB&W initials for subsidiary Kewaunee.

Green Bay & Western 506 delivered as 503 (1st), re

numbered in 1949 upon delivery of 503 (2nd).

1946-1947 700-701 originally Alco-GE 1500, 1502

1947-1949 B1 originally Alco-GE 1501

1950

1955

1 1 FA2 600-610

LOUISVILLE & NASHVILLE

1 1 FA1 332-341, 333 (2nd)

3

39

FB1 327-329

FA2 300-321.353-369

FB2 200-211,330-331

5 FPA2 350-352. 383-384

MISSOURI KANSAS -TEXAS

18 FA1 326A/C-334A/C

1948-1949 To L&N 332-341 in 1962

1948-1949 To L&N 327-329 in 1962.

1948

1948

1950-1951

1950-1951

1947-1950 Power cab cars Ex-BN 4102. 4100. 4120. 4104, 41 16,

4108; ex-PC 1333, 1330

1951-1956 Power cab cars. Ex NYC 1302; ex-L&N 317, 309. 315,

314. 320, 321. ex-WM 303. 304. 301. 302

1948-1949 Ex-L&NE 701 710, ex-SLSF 5205 (EMD engine) 333

(2nd) renumbered 319 (2nd)1948-1949 Ex-L&NE 751-753

1952-1956 317, 309. 315, 314. 310. 321 to LI 601-606 in 1971

1952-1956 203-209, 330-331, 210-211 renumbered 385-395 in

1965 386, 395, 392 converted to midtram control cars

2000 (later renumbered 2001) and 2002-2003

1952-1953

1948-1949 331A

xcep

MISSOURI

20 FA1

10

10

5

43

40

FBI

FA1-

FB1-

FA2

FB2

19 FPA2

NEW HAVE

30 FA1

15 FBI

5 FB2

NEW YORK

44 FA1

331A (2nd)

PACIFIC

301-320

301 B 31 OB

321-330

321B-325B

331-360. 374-386

331B-335B. 345B-

356B, 370B-392B

361-373. 387-392

N

0400-0429

0450-0464

465-469

CENTRAL

1000 1043

23 FB1 3300-3322

80 FA2 1044-1123

50 FB2 3323-3372

PENN CENTRAL

4 FA1 1330-1333

2 FBI 3390. 3392

1 FA2 1350

3 FB2 3393, 3395-3396

PENNSYLVANIA

recked in 1950, replaced by FA2 331A (2nd) All

328A, 329A/C, 330A, 331A/C re-engmed byElectro-Motive in 1956-1959 329A/C re-engmed by Alco

with 251 engines in 1956 All renumbered 82A/C-90A/Cin 1960 After sale to Precision National Corp. 83C and

89A leased in 19691 970 by Toledo, Peoria & Western

1950 Re-engmed by Electro-Motive in 1957 Renumbered 87A

in 1960

1948

1948

1950

1950

1951-1954 In 1962, shortly before their retirement, some FA2's and

1951-1954 FPA2s were given numbers in 1 300 series 1000 numbers

above the old numbers to avoid conflicts with renumbered

1952-1954 Geeps

1947 0401, 0418. 0426. 0428 to PC 1330-1333 in 1969

1947 0456, 0462 lo PC 3390, 3392 in 19691 95 1 465, 467, 468 to PC 3393. 3395, 3396 in 1 969

1947-1949 1000, 1031. 1033 renumbered 1119, 1056. 1110 (all

2nd) in 1964 to fill numbers vacated by wrecked units

1009. 11 10 (2nd). 1119 (2nd) renumbered 1300, 13101319 in 1968 to conform to Penn Central renumbering

1947-1949 Delivered as 2300-2322, renumbered in 1951 3322 re

numbered 3368 (2nd) in 1964 to fill number vacated bywrecked unit

1951-1952 Following units renumbered in 1968 to 1300 series with

same last two digits to conform to Penn Central renumber

ing 1045, 1049, 1050, 1051. 1054. 1055, 1061 1069

1071, 1073. 1075, 1076. 1080-1084 1086 1087

1089, 1091, 1098. 1099, 1102, 1104 1108 1111

1113 1302 to LI 600 in 1973 1350 to PC 13501951-1952

1947

1951

Ex-NH 0401. 0418. 0426, 0428 1333 1330 to LI

617-618 in 1973

Ex-NH 0456. 0462

Ex-NYC 1350, nee 1050, only former NYC FA actuallyto be relettered PC

Ex-NH 465. 467, 468, Other ex-NH units were assignedPC numbers but were not renumbered

4 FA1 9600-9603 1948

4 FBI 9600B-9603B 1948

4 FAT 9604-9607 1950

4 FBI' 9604B-9607B 1950

24 FA2 9608-9631 1951

12 FB2 9608B-9630B

(even numbers) 1951

READING

6 FA1 300-305 1948

6 FBI 300B-305B 1948

ROCK ISLAND

16 FA1 145-160

ST, LOUIS-SAN FRANCISCO

32 FA1 5200-5231

16 FB1 5300-5315

SEABOARD

3 FA1 4200-4202

3 FBI 4300-4302

SOO LINE

22 FA1 205A/B-211A/B,

2220A/B-2223A/B

SPOKANE. PORTLAND & SEATTLE

16 FA1 850-865

1948 Re-engmed by EMD in 1954-1 957, renumbered 1 28-143

(not in sequence) 132-139, 142 equipped c 1963 with

Blomberg trucks by 81

1948 Re-engined by EMD in 1955-1956, renumbered 1 28B-

135B (not in sequence). Renumbered 28-35 c 1964

1 32B-1 35B equipped with Blomberg trucks by RI c 1 963.

19481949 5200-5209. 521 1-5213. 5215-5219 re-engined by EMD

in 1955-1957 5205 to L&N 333 (2nd) in 1964

1948 1949 Re-engined by EMD in 1955-1957 5301-5304, 5307-

5310 renumbered 190-193. 197-199 in 1966.

1948

1948

2 FA1- 866-867

2 FA2 868-869

10 FB1 200-209

2 FBI- 210-211

2 FB2 212-213

TENNESSEE CENTRAL

5 FA1 801-805

1 FB1 801B

UNION PACIFIC

44

44

FA1

B1

WABASH

10 FA1

5 FBI

4 FA2

WESTERN MARYLAND

4 FA2 301-304

1600-1643

1600B/C-1642B/C

(even numbers)

1200/A-1204/A1200B-1204B

820-823

1948-1949

1948-1949

1950

1950

1948-1949

1950

1950

1949

1949

1947-1948

1947 1948

1949

1949

1950

862-865 ex-GN 440A/D. 442A/D 868 to Pacific Great

Eastern (through Alco Leasing Co) for parts c 1970

856 860, 862-865 to BN 4100-4118 (even numbers).

To BN 4120, 4122

869 to BN 4126

206-209 ex-GN 440B/C, 442B/C

All SP&S FA's originally numbered 850A-1 /2-868A-1 /2

(even numbers) and FB's 856B-1 / 2-868B-1 / 2 (even

numbers)

1600-1625 originally 1500A-1523A. 1542A-1543A

1600B/C-1616B/C originally 1524B-1541B

Renumbered 805-814 in 1961

Renumbered 800-804 in 1961.

Ex-AA 52A, 55A, 50A. 55

To LI 609. 610. 607, 608 in 1972

CANADIAN NATIONAL

8 FA1 9400-9407

25 FA2 9408-9456

(even numbers)

15 FB2 9409-9437

(odd numbers)6 FPA2 6706-6711

6 FPB2 6806-6811

CANADA

9400 donated to National Museur

nology, Ottawa, Ont

of Science & Tech-

2

2

34

FPA4M

FPB4M

FPA4

FPB4

6758-6759

6858-6859

6760-6793

6860-6871

1951-1952

1955

1955

1958

1958

1958-1959

1958-1959

Renumbered 6750-6755

6759

Renumbered 6850-6855

6859

Rebuilt from 6755. 6751

Rebuilt from 6855, 6851

6755, 6751 rebuilt to 6758-

6855, 6851 rebuilt to 6858-

CANADIAN PACIFIC

4000-4027. 4016 (2nd) 1949-1950

(1966)

24

20

6

7

4400-4423 1949-1950

4042-4051,4084-4093 1951-1953

4465-4470 1953

4082-4083.4094-4098 1953

4463-4464 1953

4016 (1st) wrecked in 1957, 4016 (2nd) constructed i

1966 from parts of RS10 8557 and FA1 4014

FBI

FA2

FB2

FPA2

2 FPB2

Canada note;

All CN units and all CP units except 4000-4007 and 4400-4403 (

Locomotive Works

/hich were built by Alco) were built by Montreal

CHIHUAHUA-PACIFIC

1 FA1- 500

NATIONAL OF MEXICO

18 FA2 6507A-6522A.6519A

(2nd), 6534A

23 FB2 6507B-6522B, 6519B

(2nd), 6523B-6527B,

6534B

18 FPA2 6500-6501, 6502A-

6506A, 6523A-6533A

11 FPB2 6502B-6506B.

6528B-6533B

PACIFIC

4 FPA2 901-904

SONORA-BAJA CALIFORNIA

1 FAr 23039

UNITED SOUTHEASTERN

MEXICO

Originally SCOP 23039. to CH-P 500. to SCOP 7121-5,

to FCS 215. to FCS 305, to FUS 305

1951-1954 6519A/B wrecked in 1952, replaced with identical new

set6519A/B (2nd) 6522A to FUS 314' (See FUS listing.)

1951-1955

1950-1954 6500-6501 to FCS 306-307? (See FUS listing

Lettered SCOP To CH-P 500. to SCOP 7121-5, to FCS

215, to FCS 305, to FUS 305 See Mexico notes.

FA1

FA1-

FPA2

FA2

201-204

305

306-307

308-314

1949

1950

1950

1952

Originally SCOP 23031-23034. to SCOP 7121-1-7121-4,to FCS 21 1-214, to FCS 201-204

Originally SCOP 23039. to CH-P 500. to SCOP 7121-5,

to FCS 215, to FCS 305

Ex-NdeM 6500-6501

308-313 originally SCOP 7121-8-7121-13. to FCS 218-

223 314 originally NdeM 6522A, to UdeY 325

Mexico notes;

All units built by Alco except NdeM 6528A/B-6533A/B, built by MLW

Key to railroad abbreviations CH-P Chihuahua-Pacific, FCS Southeastern Railway (Sureste),FUS United Southeastern Railways (created by merger of FCS and UdeY), NdeM National Railways of

Mexico, SCOP Secretary of Communications and Public Works (at one time, the office in charge of government roads other than NdeM); UdeY United Railways of Yucatan

Sources differ on renumbering of former NdeM units on FUS NdeM 6522A may have become FCS 307,

then 309 (2nd), NdeM 6501 may have become FCS 306; NdeM 6500 may have become UdeY 325, then

FCS 314, then FCS 310 (2nd) SCOP FA2 7121-9. rather than FAr 7 121-5, may have been CH-P 500

Some sources say SCOP 7 1 21 -1 -71 21 -4 and 7121-8-7121-11 all were lettered for Sonora-Baja California,

with the first group going to FCS in 1950 and the second in 1957

EXPORTBRAZIL (Central of Brazil)

12 FA1 3201-3212 1948

CUBA (Consolidated Railroads of Cuba)

6 FA2 1600-1605 1951

6 FA2 1650-1655 1951

PAKISTAN (North Western Railway)

23 FA2 2001 2023 1951-1953

General notes

The designation FA1'

and FBI*

indicates 1600 h p

Data for this summary was drawn from "Alco FA FB Tally.'' pages 26-27, March-Apr

and other rosters in that publication

For Cuba Railroad Company,For Cuba Northern Railways (lettered "Norte")

5"-6" auge. el trucks, buffers

s (specification riumbers DL208C and DL209C)1972 Extra 2200 South.

power (the now-familiar "PA" like

wise was simply the "2000"). Alco

used unit specification numbers in

the DL (diesel locomotive) series rath

er than model designations, and the

FA's and FB's had "spec" numbers

DL208A, B, and C; DL212A and B;

DL213A and B; and DL218 and DL219

[see table on page 28].Railroads apparently forced model

designations for diesels upon Alco.

EMD long had adhered to a systematic

series of model designations, but

some railroads had got along with

a "class" system for diesels left over

from the steam era. As dieselization

gained strength, however, so did a

demand for a descriptive series for

Alco-GE diesels. The series using F,

S, and RS for carbody style; A for cabs

and B for boosters; and C for A1A

and D for C trucks appears in Alco

correspondence to railroads as early

as April 1952. Interestingly, though,the system is only partially in ev

idence in the 1950-1952 Locomotive

Cyclopedia [Simmons-Boardman Pub

lishing Corporation, 1950]. The FA2,

RS3, and RSD4 are all so identified,

but what we now know as the PA2,

RSI, S4, and S3 are described only

by horsepower and wheel arrange

ment. The FA2 and the two road-

switcher model designations appear

only in the tabular specifications and

not in any accompanying Alco-GE ad

vertising. Railroads gradually caughton.

The railfan world was slower to

catch on, but we must remember that

diesel enthusiasts were a small minor

ity at that time. A roster of Santa Fe

diesels, presumably from the railroad,

which appeared on page 29 of January1954 Trains & Travel, accompany

ing a story byWallace W. Abbey, probably was the first in a popular rail

publication to list all Alco-GE diesels

by the models accepted today.The Santa Fe had no FA's, however,

so the first roster to properly label

Alco-GE B-B cabs as FA's apparentlywas one on Louisville & Nashville

locomotives compiled by diesel-roster

pioneer Sy Reich for the October 1958issue of Railroad Magazine.

The FA was conceived and born

under handicaps both externally and

internally rooted. Alco was a steam

builder but had been turning out yardand passenger diesels, and it recognizedsome observers say belatedlythat it must strive to compete with

Electro-Motive in the road-freightermarket. World War II intervened,though, and restrictions were placedon all locomotive builders by the WarProduction Board. Alco was limited to

producing mostly switchers and was

hindered in its development of a bigger prime mover which the builderconsidered essential for a successful

TRAINS 27

Alco.

THE V12 244 ENGINE -corporate vic

tor over the 241 and the heart of the FA.

road freighter. In a historical sense,

the status of Alco as the No. 2 diesel-

locomotive builder of its time and the

mixed success of the FA (modest byEMD F standards but whopping com

pared with other builders' freightcabs) seem properly oriented.

Ironically, the FA can be consid

ered a by-product of two other design

programs by Alco-GE. Apparently the

244 engine was the result of a follow-

up program begun when dissatisfac

tion set in with the development of

the 241, an earlier model; and the

carbody design was taken from that

for the "2000."

As years have passed, diesel enthu

siasts seem to have unintentionally

slighted General Electric by minimiz

ing the firm's participation in the Al

co-GE partnership. This may be be

cause we have focused our attention

on the distinctive-sounding Alco 244

engine, or because GE since has come

into its own as a major domestic

builder, or possibly even just because

"Alco" is easier to enunciate than

"Alco-GE." In FA's, the engine and

many other innards were Alco prod

ucts, but the electrical system and the

carbody styling came from General

Electric.

According to Alco authority W. A.

Cuisinier in his definitive illustrated

mechanical history of Alco cabs, "In

Logical Progression" [January-February 1972 and March-April 1972 Ex

tra 2200 South], the 244 engine pro

gram was begun while the 241 was

still abuilding. The two engines represented different factions of think

ing within the company; the 241 was

a project of the Alco engine plant (theold Mcintosh & Seymour facility at

Auburn, N.Y.), and the 244 was the

creation of the headquarters plant at

Schenectady. The 241 project had

been Alcos initial reaction to the FT

(in Alco parlance, the last two digitsin the engine model number representthe year an engine first was started

up). Alcos goal was an engine capableof higher horsepower than that which

its in-line 539 (found in switchers

and the DL109 passenger units) could

produce. Both the 241 and 244 are V-

type. Except for the MLW 1800 h.p.units built for CN, all FA series units

when built were powered by 12-cyl-inder 244's; the later "4" series have

12-cylinder251B's.The war interrupted the 241 pro

gram, and 1943 apparently was the

date of the construction of the first

two 12-cylinder test models. Problems

ensued; these eventually led to dis

enchantment by some people within

the company, and the Schenectady

group launched the 244. Although the

244 and the 241 shared a common 9x

10-inch bore and stroke, they other

wise were different and had no other

major interchangeable parts. As the

244 progressed, it was given production status; but the 241 was not.

Despite its defeat corporately, the

241 project did materialize in the

form of three locomotives. This A-B-A

set, tabbed the "Black Maria," actual

ly was used for test purposes more

than as a demonstrator.

Black Maria bore scant letteringon its black what else? paint. The

carbody styling was similar to the

DL109's. The 1500 h.p. units tested

When DL equals FA

Specification Nos. Model H.p. Engine Years Built Quantity Notes

DL208A, DL208B FA1 1500 1 2-244B 1945-1950 424 28 built by MLW

DL209A, DL209B FB1 1500 1 2-244B 1945-1950 233 20 built by MLW

DL208C FA1 1600 1 2-244C 1950 21

DL209C FB1 1600 1 2-244C 1950 16

DL212A FA2 1600 12-244D,

1 2-244G 1950-1956 359 45 built by MLW

DL213A FB2 1600 12-244D,

12-244G 1950-1956 203 21 built by MLW

DL212A, DL212B FPA2 1600 12-244D 1950-1955 71 19 built by MLW

DL213A. DL213B FPB2 1600 1 2-244D 1951-1955 24 14 built by MLW

DL218 FPA4 1800 12-251B 1958-1959 36 All built by MLW

DL219 FPB4 1800 12-251B 1958-1959 14 All built by MLW

Notes:

Data source: Extra 2200 South, page 27, March-April 1972 and page 21, March-April 1974.

Production totals exclude five units listed in summary on page 27: Canadian National 6758-6759,

6858-6859, and Canadian Pacific 401 6 (2nd).

28 JUNE 1975

^^^feffS

Other FA1 buyers East

r^

J. Parker Lamb

ALL ROAD FREfGHTS on bridgeline L&NE were handled by FA's. An

A-B-A trio crosses the NYO&W at

CampbellHall, N. Y., on February 17,

1957. Now both lines are memories.

fc^s

Clifford A Redanz.

ERIE's lines east of Marion, O., were the road's FA king

dom. A quartet hustles first New England 98 eastward

near Lottsville, Pa. (above), and FA2 737 prances by NYC

Hudson 5373 waiting with a mail train at Marion (below

left) in 1956. Mechanics at Marion (below) seem busy.

r* A

Jim Shaughnessy.

LEHIGH VALLEY owned 42 EMD F's and 32 Alco versions,

so the FA's were common sights most everywhere on LV.

On August 20, 1965, an A-B-A set departed eastward from

Sayre, Pa. Some LV FA's were traded in for Alco Centurys.

William A. Burke

Jim Shaughnessy.

**..

^f^^S^-*ij*!;;ai

iUsS?

"^JLA^

Keith E Ardinger; J David Ingles Collection

all together, as cab-booster, or as cab-cab on Delaware & Hudson, New Ha

ven, and Bangor & Aroostook, and

possibly on other roads. They are be

lieved to have been removed from

service before 1947, although some

months passed in that year before the

units were cut up. Meanwhile, the

first FAl's or "1500's," as they were

known had been built and delivered.

Black Maria and the 1500's, inciden

tally, were opposite in prime-mover

design but sported nearly identical

electrical systems and basic interior

arrangements.

The survivor of the production-status tussle, the 244 engine, provedto be a less-than-100-per-cent success

mechanically, owing in large part to

problems with turbochargers. But

the styling of the units in which the

244's were placed muted somewhat

the lackluster mechanical perform-

RAY PATTEN, designer of "flat nose

ance, at least as far as enthusiasts are

concerned.

The 1500's, like their big brother

2000 h.p. passenger units, excelled

in esthetics because they were dif

ferent in design from the competition.The man responsible for the famous

"Alco" mask the flat face with grilled

headlight and wraparound nose was

an employee of the "other" member of

the marketing team. General Electric.

He was Ray Patten, Director of the Ap

pearance Design Division of GE.

The effort to design a fresh profilewas centered on the 2000, but it fol

lowed that the freight version also

would have it. The goal, of course,

was for the outline to be different at a

glance from the lines of EMD, and

this was attacked with the slogan "Eye

appeal creates buy appeal."Patten's approach centered on three

factors: appearance: engineering lim

itations; and visibility for the engineer. The goal was "a locomotive so

distinctive and so powerful lookingthat it actually helps the railroads to

sell their services to passengers and

shippers." The new Alco-GE producthad to be "powerful, fast, dramatic."

Patten also noted that "the blunt nose,

the wrap-around construction, and

the grill design which eventually were

accepted appeared in . . . early draw

ings." In an oblique slap at EMD, Pat

ten defended Alco-GE's so-called flat

face, or "vertical nose," on the groundthat "when two 'A' units are used in

multiple with one of them coupled to

a train ... the Alco-GE nose providesa close conjunction which allows the

locomotive to become a more integral

part of the train. With the slanted

nose, by contrast, a definite break

would result between the locomotive

and the first following car." In that

era, the coupling of two cab units nose

to nose was unthinkable; but in that

instance, Patten's defense would hold

up even better.

The influence of the flat Alco-GE

nose of the FA's and PA's was evident

later in GE's turbines for the Union

Pacific and in electrics for the Penn

sylvania and the New Haven.

The Gulf, Mobile & Ohio was pre

destined to be the first FA owner. Fol

lowing the consolidation in 1940 of

the Gulf, Mobile & Northern and Mo

bile & Ohio, the road led by mini-

empire builder Isaac Burton (Ike)

Tigrett was working toward total

dieselization as its next goal. It re

mained loyal to the American Loco

motive Company and apparently was

ready to accept the builder's first road

freight type of diesel whatever the

configuration. The builder's internal

factors deemed the flat-faced "1500"

to be the product.The initial A-B-A set bore numbers

1500, 1501. and 1502, but these units

probably were built for the GM&O

and were utilized mainly for publicitypurposes by Alco-GE. The trio bore

some unique details in design for Al

co 's freight line and shared some oth

ers with the cabs of the initial GM&O

order. One difference obvious at a

glance is the headlight casing, which

i\ lower on the earlier units.

Like that of the competitive F's from

EMD, however, the basic exterior de

sign of the FA's lasted from the first

units for GM&O right through to the

30 JUNE 1975

SEABOARD AIR LINE owned only 3

FA1 cabs and 3 FBI boosters. None sur

vived until the SCL merger in 1967, since

they had been traded in on SAL GP40's.

Florida was home for SAL's Alcos; on

November 20, 1965, a cab, a booster,

two F3's, and a Geep waited to coupleonto a northbound freight at Wildwood.

Other than on GM&O, few and

far between in the South

TENNESSEE CENTRAL owned five FA

cabs and a booster. In November 1957,

No. 801 was rebuilt in kind at Alco,

so it enjoyed a longer life than the

others. In May 1962, black-and-white

No. 801 led a trio of RS3's upgradenear Crossville, Tenn., on the daily

freight from Emory Gap to Nashville.

last passenger units for CN in 1959.

In 1946 the partnership of Alco-GE

laid on an advertising campaign typical of the postwar boom for all build

ers. This was not confined to "2000's"

and "1500's" either for from one

month to the next in the trade press,

Alco stressed steam-locomotive boil

ers or (with GE, of course) diesels

from the aforementioned down to the

"middleweight champion," the 70-ton

switcher.

"Built to operate 1,000,000 miles

before major overhaul" was only one

claim for the 1500 made in a series

of two-page slick-paper four-color

spreads touting the new freighter.

Cutaways of the new 12-cylinder 244;

graphs showing a comparison of

weights and power in generator de

velopment; a retouched photo of the

cab interior showing placement of

the control stand and the good visibil

ity from the engineer's seat each ad

concentrated on a different selling

point of the new diesel freighter produced by the old steam/electric build

ers.

Much was made, of course, of the

"mighty new turbosupercharger" on

the 1500; but it was that animal plusoccasional crankshaft failures in

some early units which kept Alco-

GE's F's a distant second in sales to

EMD's. The turbochargers were sus

ceptible to failures from overheating,and problems with the turbos led to

trouble in the exhaust manifold. Ac

cording to author Cuisinier, in addi

tion to tarnishing the builder's image,

244 troubles may have strained the

Alco-GE relationship, which termi

nated in 1953.

The marketability of the FA's suf

fered on another front service ca

pability. There was no room for a

steam boiler in an FA1, and the era

was still also the heyday of the pas

senger train. The FA1 was billed as a

dual-service unit (and some roads in

deed classed them as "FP" types), but

Robert Hale

LyOVERAGE of the Alco FA

continues next month with

illustrated short features

on the FA2 demonstrators,

American FA2 owners, and

FA's in Canada and Mexico,

plus a special tribute to

Canadian National's FPA4's.

Amos G. Hewitt Jr.

only in the boosters was there room

for a steam generator. Some roads

wanted a true dual-service unit.

Alco-GE's answer to this need came

in 1950 along with the upgrading of

its entire line. The new freight cabcame to be known as the FA2. (Fol

lowing the original GM&O order, Alco

had issued subsequent specificationnumbers for the FAl's when minor

mechanical adjustments had been

made. These were DL208A, DL208B,

and DL208C, and with the latter spec

number Alco somewhat arbitrarilyincreased the horsepower rating of

the FA1 to 1600. These 1600 h.p.FAl's are listed separately from the

1500 h.p. versions in the accompany

ing summary on pages 26-27.) The

model number of the main generator

is the differentiation between the FA1

and the FA2.

Although the FA2 is only 2 feet

longer than the FA1, by reconfigur

ing certain components such as the

radiator section, Alco gained 6 feet

of space at the rear of the cab unit in

which could be placed a steam genera

tor. But the change apparently came

too late to make much of a dent in the

market. The only American roads

known to have purchased the passen

ger version (models FPA2 and FPB2)

were Baltimore & Ohio, Great North

ern, Louisville & Nashville, and Mis

souri Pacific. And of the four, onlyGN and MoPac are known to have

habitually used FA's on regularlyscheduled passenger trains.

Including roads which acquired

FA's through merger, and the Long

Island (the only American FA owner

which didn't buy any FA's new from

Alco), 28 U.S. lines and the 2 trans

continental Canadian companies have

owned FA's. In Mexico, all 5 major

ON March 10, 1963, what should be

spotted on a track at New Haven next to

a trio of NH FA's but a pair of GE U25B

demonstrators. The U-boats effected a

final irony for the Alcos' builder by

supplanting FA's on several railroads.

systems at one time or another have

operated FA's. Of the two dozen U.S.

owners which bought FA's new, all

but 4 bought FAl's; and 10 of these

were repeat customers for the FA2's/

FB2's.

Other old Alco friends besides

GM&O plunged in early with both

feet. In the East, neighbors New Ha

ven and New York Central each putsets of 1500's on their east-west New

England freight routes NH on the

Maybrook line, and NYC (which be

came the owner of the most FA's

197) on the Boston & Albany. Loyallittle Green Bay & Western started its

road-diesel program which to this

date still is all-Alco. And out West,

Union Pacific acquired the first of

what became 44 A-B duos.

The year 1948 was the biggest for

FAl's. Other Eastern carriers fol

lowed the lead of NH and NYC. Erie

installed 1 1 A-B-B-A sets, Pennsy 4

cab-booster combos, Lehigh Valley 10

of the same, and Reading 6. Little

bridge route Lehigh & New Englandentrusted virtually all road jobs to a

fleet of 10 cabs and 3 boosters. In the

Midwest, Soo's fleet of 22 cabs and

Rock Island's 8 A-B-A sets were the

biggest FA groups; and in the south

central states, Frisco's 16 and MoPac's

10 A-B-A trios and Katy's 9 A-A pairsestablished FA strongholds. Great

Northern and Spokane, Portland &

Seattle were the only FA1 buyers in

the Northwest.

Other roads were to opt for groupsof FAl's and FA2's, and the typescould be found most everywhere in

the U.S. except certain areas such

as Arizona, the Carolinas, and upper

New England. With all builders, how

ever, road-switcher sales began to

outpace those of covered wagons in

the early Fifties, and FA outputslowed to a trickle by 1953 and came

to a virtual halt thereafter. By the endof the Sixties, only a few remnants of

American FA fleets were still around

on roads such as Penn Central, West

ern Maryland, SP&S, and L&N.

As FA's began to become trade-in

fodder on second-generation high-horsepower hood units, a few went to

EMD and some succumbed in favor

of Alco Century types. But ironically,a goodly number of FA's were turnedin for U-boats to take advantage of the

compatibility of such components as

trucks and traction motors. The "oth

er" partner of the old Alco-GE alliance

wound up earning something of a

just reward. J,

32 JUNE 1975