Take a look at that!! [:D] I found it unexpectedly when I was out railfaning in West Conshohocken, PA on Conrail trackage. #8479 in authentic PRR paint!! This is my first time seeing an Alco in person, I wish it were running though. Anyway, being a train nut I had to snoop around. Unfortunitly, I saw that the whole inside of the cab was trashed allong w/ the generator end, engine room, and radiator. I would go into details of everything that was wrong w/ the engine but, thats too much to write.
Well, I managed to get some of the rusted engine room doors open and retrived the engine serial numbers. CAT 2241162. The first three letters suprised me CAT. I had no clue Catapiller built prime movers for Alco?/ Is this true?/ The engine block did look like CAT’s design.
The original engine was probally replaced. I have not heard of CAT making engines for Alco, but anything is possible. Frisco allowed EMD to replace the Alco engines in the RS3s it had when buying smaller railroads.
Thanks for sharing this with us! It’s always amazing to find something like this! It’s really sad, too, though! This engine deserves better.
I was curious about this engine and did some searching. It must have been owned by a railroad museum at one time because its in PRR paint. I found this photo of the same engine in 1982 painted for Amtrak, so someone at some point restored it to its original paint scheme.
Contradicting this is information I found saying that this engine worked for the Alan Wood Steel plant and was just left there when the plant closed. The same site I found this on also states that even though it’s sitting abandoned where it is, it’s owned by the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society and is for sale.
Perhaps it went to Amtrak, then went to this society, who painted it for PRR, who then let the steel plant use it, after which the steel plant then closed and the society didn’t do anything about the engine. That’s about as good of a guess as I can come up with. Perhaps someone out there knows the whole story.
Amtrak received 45 RS3’s that would have gone to Conrail when Conrail was established on April 1, 1976. Three or four were assigned to Chicago for terminal switching and most of the rest were assigned to terminal or work train service on the Northeast Corridor. Sometime in the mid-1980’s, several of the RS3’s were re-powered with Caterpillar engines.
Hmmmm, that RS3 looks like it could be restored nicely…
Very very nice, that must have made your day! I’d love to have a find like that.
In Dunkirk, N.Y. there was an Alco plant (called the Brooks Works) that made steam locomotives. The buildings are, as far as I know (I was last there in 2002,) still there to some degree right along the NYC/Conrail/CSX mainline. It’s a great place to see both the newest and best along with where some of the greatest steam locomotives were built.
As of the 90’s most of the factory was left “as was” the blast furnace was still in place, as were most of the machines and even a 1940’s Mack truck with the keys on the seat!! Lately though, CSX has been using the old production yard as a dead line, and they’ve started to demolish most of the outbuildings.
As for your Alco there CSXrules, you should inform some local preservation society of it. The world can always use another restored Alco.
That RS3 is owned by the Anthracite Railroads Historical Society and was used as a donor for the 244 and other parts to restore an FA2 to operability. The FA2 was one of the ones used as a cab car and head end power on the Long Island RR. So it is likely that the CAT engine is what had provided HEP on the Long Island and was placed into the RS3 as a likely place to set the surplus engine. The FA2 has been painted into Lehigh Valley and is currently in New Jersey.
The ARHS is trying to find a good home for the RS3. As its heritage is outside their charter it does not fit with the collection. (and they already have an authentic CNJ RS3) If you know of a serious offer contact them on the web site.
A while back I stumbled on a GE 44tonner
On a Newhaven breanch in west concord
After the New Haven Gave up the brach
The line was operated privatly
The engine has since been removed
But an ALco
Thats pretty nice
Alex
All it would take is time and money. Alot of time and and alot of money. The CAT engine might made it hard to find sponsers. But it would be nice to save another one before it is sold for scrap or parts. [:(]
Sarah, you might want to contact the Railroad Museum of PA, maybe they could help find out the origins, and possibly restore it to operating condition. That would be something to see. Where did you find it in Conshacken?
As a kid (13 years old) I worked as a volunteer for the Branford Electric Railway Association in Connecticut. We always would dream of wandering down a grown over interurban line, finding a building- locked of course- getting it opened up and discovering a fresh, right out of the factory, trolley car waiting for someone to claim it. This kind of dream usually preceded precision work of dropping handfuls of some kind of lubricating grease into the trucks of the cars…
Great find. I hope they can recover the locomotive before it’s too late… I have never heard an ALCO diesel in operation, so I wonder what they sounded like…
DELAWARE AND HUNDSON RR’s BICENTENIAL UNIT, RS3 NUMBERED 506, BUT WEARING THE PATRIOTIC NUMBER 1776. THIS RS3 HELPED POWER THE ‘PRE-AMBLE EXPRESS’ IN 1975, A PREVIEW OF THE 1976 ‘AMERICAN FREEDOM TRAIN’. IN THE LATE 1980’s, THIS UNIT WORKED ON THE TIOGACENTRAL RR.
NICELY PAINTED SUSQUEHANNA RS3 WITH A PAST HISTORY THAT INCLUDED TIME ON THE ROBERVAL & SAGUENAY RR.
FORMER ROBERVAL & SAGUENAY 31, NEE RDG 492.
STEAM GENERATOR EQUIPPED RS3 FROM THE FONDA, JOHNSTOWN AND GLOVERVILLE RR.
That abandoned Alco RS3 was in Reading Pa. in 1987. I remember it being there and photographed it. Later it showed up in West Coshohocken about 35 miles south of the old Reading shops which in 1987 were being abandoned by Conrail. The yard was filled with abandoned blue cabooses. I have no idea how or why it wound up where it rusts in peace now but it is such a mess I don’t believe it is anything more than scrap.
