EMDs Roll With Alco Trucks |
Recently, I came across a couple of Chesapeake
& Ohio SD18 slides which at first glance the trucks looked out-of-place. Instead of EMD's
standard three-axle flexicoil. they were Alco tri-mount. During the late 1950s and 1960s, the locomotive builder from
LaGrange, Illinois had been giving out attractive discounts on trade-ins of first generation
power, primarily EMD and ALCO.
For example, an Alco owner could save as much as $5000 on the purchase of a new locomotive if
it opted to re-use a set of existing Alco AAR-Type B trucks. The very popular General Electric
752 traction motors (standard equipment on Alco trucks) made the discount even more attractive.
Beyond ringing up a new sale and generating revenue, the trade-in program provided one additional
yet subtle EMD benefit, it helped shrink the number of locomotives / options available to potential
buyers in the second-hand market. In essence, reducing the size of a competitive source.
So we thought it might be interesting to summarize EMD locomotives riding atop Alco trucks, along
with a list of Alco locomotives using EMD's Bloomberg trucks.
|
GP18
|
Missouri Pacific
- MP 400-446 (26956-27002, b/d 1-3/62)
- MP 447-480 (27228-27261, b/d 5-6/62)
- MP 481-499 (27998-28016, b/d 12/62)
- #400 series re-#d into 1900 series
|
 GM&O
#464 at E. St. Louis, Illinois (Gerald Carson photo) |
GP30s
|
Gulf Mobile & Ohio
- GM&O 500-505 (27904-27909, b/d 12/62)
- GM&O 506, 507 (27910, 27911, b/d 1/63)
- GM&O 508, 509 (27912, 27913, b/d 2/63)
- GM&O 510-512 (27914-27916, b/d 3/63)
- GM&O 513-516 (27917-27920, b/d 4/63)
- GM&O 517-519 (27925-27928, b/d 4-5/63)
|
 GM&O
#512 at Bloomington, IL (Richard "Dick" Wallin photo) |
Illinois Central Gulf
- ICG 2250, 2251 were ex-GM&O 500, 501
- ICG 2253-22255 were ex-GM&O 503-505
- ICG 2257, 2259 were ex-GM&O 507, 509
- ICG 2265 was ex-GM&O 515
- ICG 2267, 2269 were ex-GM&O 517, 519
- GP26 ICG 2601 was ex-GM&O 502
- GP26 ICG 2602 was ex-GM&O 514
|
 Illinois
ICG #522 (Photographer and location unknown) |
Milwaukee Road
- Milw 340 /1000 (27736, b/d 5/63)
- Milw 341-354 (27737-27749, b/d 6/63)
- Milw 355 (27751, b/d 7/63)
- 1000 was re-#d 340 /
- 1001-1014 was re-#d from 341-354
|
 Milwaukee Raod
#346 at Bensonville, Illinois (R. Craig photo) |
Paducah & Louisville
- PAL 506 wfrom as ex-GM&O 506
- PAL 509 was ex-GM&O 509
- PAL 2257 was ex-ICG/GM&O 507
- PAL 2259 was ex-GM&O 509
- PAL 2260 < ICG/GM&O 510
- PAL 2267 was ex-GM&O 517
- PAL 2279 was ex-ICG/GM&O 530
|
 PAL #2267 at Cordova,
IL (Don Kalkman photo) |
SOO Line
- SOO #700 (28342, b/d 6/63)
- SOO #701-705 (28321-28235, b/d 3/63)
- SOO 706-713 (28226-28233, b/d 3-5/63)
- SOO 714-721 (28334-28341, 5-6/63)
- 700 on display at Lake Superior Transportation Museum
- 703 on display at Colfax (WI) Railroad Museum
|
 SOO Line #707
at Ishpeming, Michigan (R. Craig photo) |
Wisconsin Central
- WC 700 was ex-SOO #700
- WC 703, 704 were ex-SOO #703, 704
- WC 706-713 were ex-SOO 706-713
- WC 715-721 were ex-SOO 715-721
|
 Wisconsin Central #713
at Schiller Park, Illinois (R. Craig photo) |
GP35s
|
Ann Arbor
- AA 385, 386 (28991, 28992, b/d 3/64)
- AA 387-390 (28993-28996, b/d 4/64)
- AA 391, 392 (28997, 28998-28233, b/d 5/64)
- AA 393, 394 (28997-29000, b/d 6/64)
- Locos transferred in 1977 to Michigan Interstate RR, then to Tuscola & Saginaw Bay in 1983
|
 Ann Arbor #391
at Flat Rock, Michigan (R. Craig photo) |
Burlington Northern
- BN 2575-2577 were SLSF 725-727
- BN 2578-2580 were SLSF 728-730
- BN 2581, 2582 were SLSF 731, 732
- Units acquired at time of SLSF (Frisco) purchase in November 1980
|
 BN #2580 at Seattle,
Washington (Deane Motis photo) |
Great Lakes Central
- GLC 385 was ex-TSBY < nee AA 385-387
- GLC 390 was ex-TSBY < nee AA 388-390
- GLC 391, 392 were ex-TSBY < nee AA 391, 392
- GLC 393, 394 were ex-TSBY < nee AA 393, 394
|
 GLC #390 at Durand,
MI (Ralph M. Watkins photo) |
Gulf Mobile & Ohio
- GM&O 602-609 (28442-28450, b/d 2/64)
- GM&O 610 (28946, b/d 3/64)
- GM&O 611, 612 (29299, 29300, b/d 4/64)
- GM&O 613-622 (29270-29279, b/d 8/64)
- GM&O 623, 624 (29589, 29590, b/d 9/64)
- GM&O 625-636 (29746-29757, b/d 9/64)
- GM&O 637-648 (30264-30275, b/d 8-9/65)
- All went to ICG except 614, 642 & 648
 GM&O 610 at
Venice, IL. (Richard "Dick" Wallin photo |
|
Illinois Central Gulf
- ICG 2500-2508 (28442-28450, b/d 2-3/64)
- ICG 610 (28946, b/d 3/64)
- GM&O 611, 612 (29299, 29300, b/d 4/64)
- GM&O 613, 615-622 (29270, 29272-29279, b/d 8/64)
- GM&O 623, 624 (29589, 29590, b/d 9/64)
- GM&O 625-636 (29746-29757, b/d 9/64)
- GM&O 637-641, 643-647 (30264-30268, 30270-30274, b/d 8-9/65)
 PCG 2523 at
Paducah, KY. (Chuck Zeiler photo) |
|
Paducah & Louisville
- PAL 2504, 2505 were ex-GM&O 605, 606
- PAL 2512, 2515 were ex-GM&O 613, 617
- PAL 2516, 2517 were ex-GM&O 618, 619
- PAL 2522 was ex-GM&O 624
- PAL 2523, 2524 were ex-GM&O 625, 626
- PAL 2534 was ex-GM&O 636
- PAL 2529 was ex-GM&O 631
- PAL 2537, 2541 were ex-GM&O 639, 644
|
 PAL #2534 at
Leitchfield, KY (Jim Marcus photo / Adam Comer collection) |
Southern Railway
- Sou 2645-2651 (29900-06, 1/65)
- Sou 2652-2655 (29907-10, 2/65)
- Sou 2656-2675 (29911-30, 2/65)
- Sou 2676-2702 (29931-57, 3/65)
- Sou 2703, 2704 (29958, 59, 4/65)
- S&A 2705-2708 (30044-47, 12/64)
- S&A 2709-2715 (30048-54, 1/65)
- S&A 2709-2715 (30048-54, 1/65)
- S&A = Savannah & Atlanta
|
 Southern Railway #2706
at Rossford, Ohio (R. Craig photo) |
St.Louis-San Francisco (Frisco)
- SLSF 725-727 (31120-31122, b/d 12/65)
- SLSF 728-730 (31123-31125, b/d 12/65)
- SLSF 731, 732 (31126, 31127, b/d 12/65)
- All of these GP35s went to Burlington Northern when SLSF was purchased in November 1980
|
 SLSF #725 at Birmingham,
Alabama (Stan Jankowski photo)
|
Toledo Peoria & Western
- TP&W 900 (31061, b/d 11/65)
- TP&W 901 (31062, b/d 11/65)
- TP&W 902 (31063, b/d 11/65)
- These three went to ATSF as #3463-3464
- Trucks replaced on ATSF with EMD Bloombergs
 TP&W #902 at Peoria,
Illinois (RR "Dick" Wallin photo) |
|
Tuscola & Saginaw Bay
- TSBY 385-387 were ex-AA 385-387
- TSBY 388-390 were ex-AA 388-390
- TSBY 391, 392 were ex-AA 391, 392
- TSBY 393, 394 were ex-AA 393, 394
- TSBY 2646, 2648 was ex-NS 2646, 2648
- TSBY 2674, 2681 was ex-NS 2674, 2681
- TSBY 2674 may have been only a parts source
|
 Tuscola & Saginaw Bay
#2648 at Owosso, MI (Ray Sabo photo) |
Wheeling & Lake Erie
- W&LE 2645-2651 were ex-NS 2645-2651
- W&LE 2652-2655 were ex-NS 2652-2655
- W&LE 2656-2678 were ex-NS 2656-2678
- W&LE 2679-22702 were ex-NS 2679-2702
- W&LE 2703, 2704 were ex-NS 2703, 2704
- W&LE 2705-2708 were ex-NS 2705-2708
- W&LE 2709-2715 were ex-NS 2709-2715
- All units originally belonged to the Southern Rwy
|
 W&LE #2662
at Brewster, Ohio (R. Craig photo) |
SD18
|
Chesapeake & Ohio
- C&O #1800, 1801 (27598, 27599)
- C&O #1802-1809 (27600-27607)
- C&O 1810-1814 (27608--27612)
- All of the above SD18s built in 1/63
- C&O 1815-1818 (27613-27616, 2/63)
- These locos were the only six-axle EMDs to ride on Alco's Tri-mount trucks
- C&O 1809 can be viewed at the Southern Appalachian RR Museum
|
 C&O SD18 1806 at
Dearborn, Michigan (Ray Sabo photo) |