My favorite would be the C415
None of the above: C-424 with nose lights, or perhaps one of those widenose M420Ws or M630Ws…
It’s also hard to overlook the undisputed king of ALCos: The M640. 4000hp of brute AC force!
At the risk of looking redundant, I voted for the PAs, after all I know that the ultimate expression of the PA1 was in Lehigh Valley 601-614.[^]
The PA of course! Most beautiful for me in SP Daylight and Rio Grande yellow/silver with black stripes.
C628 HighNose - C&NW. I was lucky to be able to photograph a couple of them in service back in 1986 in the U.P.
RS3 and the PA for sure!
I like all the early ALCos, especially the road switchers. I think they have a workaday elegance that the Geeps just can’t match.
Hmm, where’s the “all” option? I voted PA, for what it’s worth. Absolutely beautiful car body and so utterly timeless in its styling. Yeee haw.
Guess I have to go with the ALCO PA, painted in SP Daylight colors. The former Santa Fe PA’s on the Delaware and Hudson looked pretty good too.
My favorite would have to be the RS-2 in the Chicago Great Westerns post-1963 red
RS3 and the MLW M420W are my favorites.
I’ll start with all three versions of the flatnose (PA, FA, DL500) and add the DL535, a rather charming 1200 HP C-C road switcher found in India, Mexico, Peru and a host of other places.
I would have to say a RS3 and a C630.
Bert
The Santa Fe low nose RSD15 alligator units,the only ALCo road units I am really familiar with.Other favorites are the S series turbocharged switchers and the Daylight PAs.
I like the RS3’s and C636’s
In 1955 I was 19 years old and worked as a fireman on the Santa Fe out of Gallup NM. Like most other engine crews I believed Alcos were a notable source of trouble. Although I wasn’t qualified for passenger because of a lack of steam generator training I was called one day at Belen for a second section of #123 --The Grand Canyon Limited because they couldn’t find the regular fireman. We had 2 PAs and about 15 cars–all heavyweight.
I liked the PAs as midway through the trip back to Gallup the steam generators quit and only the engineer knew how to fix them.While he was doing that I ran the train—well, it wasnt the Super Chief and I only ran it for 15 minutes or so . My effort consisted of leaving the throttle in Run 8 and blowing the horn at a couple of grade crossings and at a few Indians along the right of way.
As bad as the Alcos were they gave me an unforgettable experience.