ALCO PA

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ALCO PA

Power type	Diesel-electric
Builder	American Locomotive Company (ALCO)
Model	PA
Build date	September 1946 — December 1953
Total production	297
AAR wheel arr.	A1A-A1A
Gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Length	65 ft 8 in (20.02 m)
Total weight	306,000 lb (139,000 kg)
Prime mover	ALCO 244
Engine type	4-stroke diesel
Aspiration	Turbocharger
Displacement	10,688 in³ (175.2 L)
Cylinders	V16
Cylinder size	9 in × 10.5 in (229 mm × 267 mm)
Transmission	DC generator, DC traction motors
Top speed	117 mph (188 km/h)
Power output	2,000 hp (1,490 kW) — PA-1/PB-1 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) — PA-2/PB-2 & PA-3/PB-3
Tractive effort	51,000 lbf (227 kN)
Locomotive brakes	Dynamic, straight air
Train brakes	Air
Locale	North America

The ALCO PA was a family of A1A-A1A diesel locomotives built to haul passenger trains built in Schenectady, New York in the United States by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) between September, 1946 and December, 1953. They were of a cab unit design, and both cab-equipped lead A unit PA and cabless booster B unit PB models were built.

Three different models were offered: the 2,000 hp (1,490 kW) PA-1/PB-1 (built between September, 1946 and June, 1950); the 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) PA-2/PB-2 (built between April, 1950 and May, 1952); and PA-3/PB-3 (built between April, 1952 and December, 1953). It should be noted that models popularly termed the PA/PB-3 were in fact only an upgrade of the PA/PB-2. The true PA/PB-3 model would have boasted 2,400 hp (1,790 kW), though none were ever built. Aside from the small power increase between the PA-1 and the PA-2, differences between the models were minor. Externally, PA-3s could be distinguished by the absence of the "eyebrow" trim piece on the grille behind the cab and the porthole window behind the radiator shutters. Internally, later PA-2 and PB-2 production featured a water-cooled turbocharger and other engine compartment changes, but these were frequently added to older models undergoing major repairs and/or overhauls.

Like its smaller cousin, the ALCO FA, the PA had distinctive styling, with a long, straight nose tipped by a headlight in a square, slitted grille, raked windshields, and trim pieces behind the cab windows that lengthened and sleekened the lines. The overall design owed a lot to the Fairbanks-Morse Erie-built design, which had been constructed by ALCO's sales partner General Electric at their Erie, Pennsylvania plant. GE's industrial designer Ray Patten styled the PA and PB, and many believe it likely that he took drawings of the Erie-built as a starting point, lengthening and squaring the nose and giving it a more aggressive look. The majority of PA components were compatible with the FA.

The ALCO 244 diesel prime mover proved to be the undoing of the PA, as the locomotives failed to capture a marketplace dominated by EMD. Some units were retrofitted with EMD 1,750 hp (1,305 kW) engines in an attempt to improve the PA's service record. The later 251-series engine, a vastly improved prime mover, was not available in time for ALCO to recover the loss of reputation caused by the unreliability of the 244. By the time the ALCO 251 engine was accepted into widespread use, General Electric had fielded their entries into the diesel-electric locomotive market. General Electric eventually supplanted ALCO as a manufacturer of locomotives, leading to ALCO's demise in 1969.

[edit] Deliveries

Original owners of the ALCO PA series include:

[edit] Foreign sales

The PA-2 units sold to the 5'–3" (1600 mm) broad gauge Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro of São Paulo State in Brazil were (for unknown reasons) equipped with a bar pilot and solid horizontal steel pilot beam, which did not help the PA's looks. Two of these locomotives survive.

[edit] Surviving examples

Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his "sidekick" Mortimer Snerd pose in the cab of Santa Fe #51L, an ALCO PA unit, to mark its delivery to the railroad in 1946.

Six PA units survive; four are of the ex-Santa Fe group of locomotives kept in service by the Delaware and Hudson Railroad and later sold to Mexico, while the remaining two are of the three broad gauge units sold to the Companhia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro in Brazil. These latter are said to be in very poor shape. Of the D&H units, two are in the United States. One is being cosmetically restored into its AT&SF Warbonnet colors for the Smithsonian Institution, while the other is privately owned by Doyle McCormack and is being restored to operating condition as Nickel Plate Road #190, fitted with a more modern ALCO 251 diesel prime mover. The other two survivors are in the Puebla Museum in Mexico.

[edit] References

• ALCO 244 and 251 Diesel Engines. Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. Retrieved on March 9, 2006.
• Aslaksen, James and McCormack, Doyle. NKP190.com. Retrieved on March 26, 2005.
• Hayden, Bob (Ed.) (1980). Model Railroader Cyclopedia-Volume 2: Diesel Locomotives. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-89024-547-9.
• Hollingsworth, Brian and Arthur F. Cook (1987). The Great Book of Trains. Portland House, New York, NY. ISBN 0-517-64515-7.
• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Milwaukee, WI. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.
• Romano, Andy (1997). PA: Alco's Glamour Girl. Four Ways West Publications. ISBN 1-885614-16-0.
• Stumpf, Rolf. ALCO World: Paulista RR. Retrieved on March 26, 2005.

[edit] External links

• Alco PA & PB Roster
• Preserved Alco Cab Units
• NKP190.com documents the restoration of Nickel Plate Road #190, a PA-1.