by Luther Brefo
We all know that the Northeast has become a haven for Alcos of all types, age, and condition. But there seems to be very little info on any Alcos out west. Does anyone have any clues as to what is "out there?"
Railroad Forums
Moderator: Alcoman
tgibson wrote:Hi,For your page, I have a correction to make.
To my knowledge there are no Alco's left in "normal operation" in the far west. There might be a switcher or two, but I don't know of them. There are several museums that operate their Alco's on an occasional basis; the list is on my Museums page:
http://www.calclassic.com/alco/museums.htm
Hope this helps,
GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Don't get too excited about that LV 211. An Alco carbody, hiding an EMD prime mover, hardly qualifies as an Alco. I personally know of an offer, to repower that Alco, with a 244 from a donor unit, but they wan't to keep it EMD, for whatever bizarre reason..........Probably for historic reasons, it has been operating more than half of its life now with an EMD engine..
GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Don't get too excited about that LV 211. An Alco carbody, hiding an EMD prime mover, hardly qualifies as an Alco. I personally know of an offer, to repower that Alco, with a 244 from a donor unit, but they wan't to keep it EMD, for whatever bizarre reason..........I am well aware that its got a 12-567B under the hood. A couple of weekends back, we were working on its generator. I'd like to see it back in its original state (with a 244, etc) but I am sure there is a good reason that our museum has kept it as is.
scottychaos wrote: "historical accuracy". I consider it an Alco..Yeah, why would a museum be concerned with historical accuracy? Or a preservation society? Oooops, I thought that was the only reason for a museum. Putting a dress on a pig doesn't make it a woman, know what I mean? It would be okay, as a Conrail loco, but it doesn't cut it, as a Valley loco. The EMD prime mover makes it an EMD, not an Alco. The loco is an Alco, because an Alco beats under the hood, not the "chanting" of an EMD prime mover. The thump-thump-thump would be accurate to hear. It's GREAT that it has been preserved, but it's not an Alco. Would a "steam engine" with a diesel in the tender, powering traction motors underneath it, still be a steam engine? (hope I didn't give any "museums" an idea there...... ) Just my opine, though........
to me it will always be LV Alco RS3 211.
the type of engine under the hood doesnt matter much to me.
I would still consider it a "real" Alco even it was on static display with NO engine under the hood!
Scot