Old post, I know.
The S&L RS-1s were of ex-Minneapolis & St. Louis and Soo Line heritage. This is why the steam loco-style bell was installed on some of the units - it was an M&St.L modification. To accomodate the bell, the walkway over the fan housing was offset from the middle to the fireman's side.
RS1s were ran alongside three purchased-new RS23s and two ex-MLW leaser, nee-UP RS27s that worked on the Roberval and Saguenay prior to M420 delivery. They were retained all through the Devco days, with patched Soo Line paint still surviving on at least one unit until the late 70's. New GP38-2s were purchased in 1981. The RS27s were scrapped, the RS23s were sold to the Greater Winnipeg Water District where they remain in service, and most RS1s were sold for scrap except for at least three units. Two were sold or donated to the Salem and Hillsborough Railway in New Brunswick, where they were destroyed along with other equipment in a 1994 roundhouse fire.
One RS1 was converted into a snowplow and still survives in Sydney.
"What was it the engines said?
Pilots touching, head to head,
half a world behind each back?
'They should have made this double track'"
