Left: The ALCO RSD-15, a long lived, long nosed diesel electric locomotive. Right: The ALCO DH-642, a very short lived, very short nosed experimental diesel hydraulic locomotive
(photos by R. Hogan)
Both rostered by the Southern Pacific, which was unusually generous to ALCO as it was falling apart at the seams by the mid 1960's, no longer the gargantuan giant international builder of steam locomotives 15 years before, their legendarily smoky diesels found strong success as licensed export engines in Canada, Australia, and India.
US railroads had soured on them thanks to their unreliable 244 prime mover of the late 1940's, and by the time they'd fixed it in the mid 50's with their excellent 251 prime mover, the US railroads had moved on to supporting General Motor's EMD. They limped through the 60s, producing progressively worse locomotives until they went bankrupt in 1969.
The strength of the ALCO locomotive designs was how robust they were, and they had great traction motors that provided a lot of tractive effort to get trains moving quickly. They're well loved all over the world by railfans, and I love them too. When they put effort into the engines they built, they are remarkably excellent in everyday service, but you don't change their oil regularly and you immediately run into catastrophic problems.
