I’m having a heck of a time figuring out just WHAT this is: obviously ALCO (or maybe MLW), little stack (so non-turboed), looks kinda like a S-1 or S-3, but it appears to have radiator on NOSE as well as sides…
Anyone have any ideas? (BTW, it hangs around here in Cayce, SC at the steel mill, along with a NW-2, and two others I haven’t identified yet).
UMLER record indicates it was originally built in 1946…Rebuilt in 2002 and is now rated at 425HP
No indication of who rebuilt it or the make of the current prime mover.
…I know nothing about this specific engine, but believe the openings near the front {Radiator}, on each side would simply be exhaust openings for the warm air flowing thru the radiator.
A railpictures.net submission indicates it’s an ALCO S1, and a check for S1’s appears to confirm that.
What changes were made during any overhauls might mean the frame and sheet metal are an ALCO S1, but the workings are something else.
Check out this website and the “Alcohauler Links” near the bottom of the page -
http://www.calclassic.com/alco/
esp. the “Alco Roster” info from the “Diesel Shop” at - http://www.thedieselshop.us/ALCOMOD.HTML
and for S-1’s at - http://www.thedieselshop.us/Alco_S1.HTML
In my humble opinion (ie:best guess), it’s an S-1 that’s been rebuilt with a truck engine…
A little internet sleuthing has determined that the locomotive is a rebuilt Alco S-2. One of the spotting features for them was a square front radiator section–you can see the rebuilders covered up the rear portion of the opening in the last view–giving it the appearance of an S-1 or S-3, when it wasn’t.
These types of rebuilt Alcos were done by Johnson Rail Services of Cornelia, GA. This loco was seen at their facility in October of 2002 from a report by Mark Sublette. Here’s a link to that (it is down about 2/3rds of the way on this page.)
http://www.bullsheet.com/news/200212.html
The engine itself probably has a Catepillar diesel engine of some kind (hence the 425 horsepower rating). Quite a few industrials have these rebuilt by Johnson Rail Services, and they all look about the same.
The article goes on to state that it was previously Laurinburg & Southern S-2 #132.
Lance W.