ALCO PA

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ALCO PA / PB
Two Delaware and Hudson Railway PA1s in front of a special train in October 1974
Two Delaware and Hudson Railway PA1s in front of a special train in October 1974
Number: 297
Manufacturer: ALCO , General Electric
Year of construction (s): 1946-1950
Axis formula : (A1A) '(A1A)'
Gauge : Standard gauge (1435 mm) /
1600 mm wide gauge
Length over coupling: 65 ft 8 in (20,020 mm )
Service mass: 306,000 lb (139 t )
Top speed: 117 mph (188 km / h )
Traction power: 2000 PS (1490 kW ) /
2250 PS (1680 kW)
Starting tractive effort: 51,000 lb f (227 kN )
Motor type: ALCO 244 V16
Motor type: 16- cylinder 4-stroke V-engine with turbocharger , water-cooled
Power transmission: electric
Brake: Compressed air
Locomotive brake: Compressed air, additional brake, optional resistance brake

ALCO PA refers to a series of diesel locomotives with the axle formula (A1A) (A1A) for use in front of passenger trains. The locomotives were from 1946 to 1953 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and General Electric (GE) together in Schenectady in the US state of New York built. There were both locomotives with cab ( A-units ) called PA and führerstand loose Booster ( B-units ) called PB built.

variants

Two different models were offered: PA-1 and PB-1 with 2000 HP (1.5 MW ) each were built between 1946 and 1950, while from 1950 to 1953 the somewhat more powerful PA-2 and PB-2 with 2250 HP each ( 1.7 MW) were built. Improved PA-2 and PB-2 are often referred to as PA-3 and PB-3, respectively. ALCo planned as PA-3 and PB-3 types with an engine output of 2400 HP (1.8 MW), but these were no longer built. Apart from the different engines , the differences between the locomotives of the PA-1 series and those of the PA-2 series were minimal. Locomotives of the "PA-3" series differed externally in the absence of the "eyebrow" trim strip on the ventilation grille behind the driver's cab and the porthole behind the radiator shutters. The water-cooled turbochargers installed in the PA-2 and PB-2 locomotives of more recent production date and other minor improvements to the machinery were often retrofitted to older vehicles as part of major repairs or maintenance work .

Like the locomotives of the ALCO FA series, those of the PA series had a characteristic design with a long, straight nose, at the top of which was a large, barred headlight in a square housing, sloping windshields and moldings behind the driver's cab windows, which the Lines appear elongated and slimmer. The design took up elements of the Erie-Built series from Fairbanks-Morse , which had been built by General Electric, the supplier of electrical equipment for the PA series, in Erie, Pennsylvania . GE's product designer Ray Patten designed the PA and PB series, and it seems possible that he took the Erie Built series as a starting point, lengthening the nose and making the nose more angular to give the locomotive a more "aggressive" look to rent. Many individual parts of the PA series were interchangeable with the FA series.

Railway fans describe the PA series as one of the most beautiful diesel locomotive series and as an " honorary steam locomotive ". The latter is due to a peculiarity of the ALCO 244 diesel engine used , because when you accelerated, thick black clouds of smoke came out of the chimneys until the turbocharger had reached a certain speed.

The used V16 diesel engine ALCO 244 also led to the decline of the PA series. This type of engine was brought to market hastily and it was found to be unreliable. The locomotives of the PA series could therefore on the already from the General Motors Electro-Motive Division with its E series dominated market not say. The triple unit of locomotives 51L, 51A and 51B sold to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway was converted to EMD 16-567C engines with 1750 hp (1.3 MW) in August 1954 to improve their reliability. Who later introduced, significantly improved motor type ALCO 251 came too late to the result from the unreliability of the ALCO 244 image damage make up again. Even before the ALCO 251 came on the market in large numbers, General Electric had ended its partnership with ALCO in 1953 and brought its own diesel-electric locomotives onto the market.

Buyers

society PA1 PB1 PA2 PB2 Remarks
Demonstration model 1 1 Passed on to the New York Central Railroad
Demonstration model 2 Demonstration model for the Canadian National Railway in green and gold livery, later sold to the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad as the PA-2; last built copies of the PA-1 series
American Freedom Train 1 Passed on to the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 28 16 Four PA-1s resold to the Delaware and Hudson Railway ; were the last units still in operation
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad 4th 2
Erie Railroad 12 2
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad 2
Lehigh Valley Railroad 14th
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad 4th 8th
Missouri Pacific Railroad 8th 29
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad 27 Unit 0783 was resold to the Delaware and Hudson Railway in 1967 as a spare parts donor
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad ("Nickel Plate") 11
New York Central Railroad 8th 4th 6th
Pennsylvania Railroad 10 5
St. Louis Southwestern Railway ("Cotton Belt Route") 2 Resold to the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad 24 6th 27 7th
Southern Railway 5
Union Pacific Railroad 8th 6th
Wabash Railroad 4th
Sao Paulo Railway 3
Totals 169 39 81 8th

Sales abroad

Three PA-2 locomotives were delivered to Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro in São Paulo ( Brazil ). This operates a 1,600 mm - broad gauge -Netz. These locomotives were equipped with reinforced track clearers. Two of these locomotives still exist.

Whereabouts

Today 6 units of the PA series still exist. Two of them are at the Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro in Brazil (see above).

Four more (nos. 16 to 19) are from the delivery to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. These locomotives were resold to the Delaware & Hudson Railway in 1967. In 1974 and 1975 they were converted by Morrison-Knudsen and received V12 engines of the type ALCO 251. Morrison-Knudsen referred to these converted locomotives as PA-4 . They were later resold to Mexico . Two of them (# 16 and # 18) are now back in the United States . Unit no. 16 was at a derailment badly damaged in Mexico and is intended for the Smithsonian Institution again Warbonnet get the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Unit # 18 is privately owned and is scheduled to be restored as Nickel Plate Road # 190.

The other two still existing locomotives (nos. 17 and 19) are now in the Museo Nacional de los Ferrocarriles Mexicanos in Puebla in the Mexican state of the same name. One of the locomotives is operational. Unit No. 17 is painted in the color scheme of the Southern Pacific train "Coast Daylight".

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Märklin: Märklin product database . As of June 23, 2009.

literature

  • Bob Hayden (Ed.): Model Railroader Cyclopedia - Volume 2: Diesel Locomotives . Kalmbach Books, 1980, ISBN 0-89024-547-9 .
  • Brian Hollingsworth, Arthur F. Cook: The Great Book of Trains . Portland House, 1987, ISBN 0-517-64515-7 .
  • Jerry A. Pinkepank: The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide . Kalmbach Publishing, 1973, ISBN 0-89024-026-4 .
  • Andy Romano: PA: Alco's Glamor Girl . Four Ways West Publications, 1997, ISBN 1-885614-16-0 .

Web links

Commons : ALCO PA  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files