Alco PA The complete story

YouTube Credits:

Dogger Bend Railway UP Big Boy

gmpullman :D&H Alco PA

baldwinloco12: Alco RS-1

rollingswitch: Alco RS-3

[turkfiles]

Quite a bit of railroad history there. Learned much about ALCOs! Thanks so much.

[JackF]

I thought a big reason Alco stuck with steam was because during WWII they were actually required by the government to continue to produce steam engines whereas EMD got the contract to provide diesel electrics. EMD got a huge boost in the post-war market from experience gained.

[paulquinn]

Enjoyable video. It brought back a memory of being at Richmond, California, for the last run of the PA’s on the Santa Fe. Standing next to the lead unit I felt so impressed by its huge size and image of tremendous power. I can never equate this with the “toaster” origin in its design heritage. What a fantastic show it’s departure provided with the roar of the engines and black smoke. My friend, Don, and I got chills at the magnificent sight and the historical significance this experience provided. A note: somehow, both SP and ATSF must have figured out what it took to get value from these locomotives, for they racked up millions of miles in service and lasted a long time in heavy use. Also, unlike Santa Fe, the SP rewire job allowed her units to MU with EMD units, so locomotives were mixed when needed.

[MrCateagle]

IMHO, the PA is the most aesthetically appealing first generation road diesel.

[NEhemiah]

I own a couple of ho scale vintage Athearn analog Alco PA1's painted in the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad schemes and a single PB1 in New York Central. Thanks for uploading this information about this locomotive manufacturer.

[gamarodriguez]

Here in Mexico, 2 ALCOPA survive, one with the daylight colors of SP and the other with those of the Mexican railway and the latter still works.

[markfrench]

The prime mover wasn't the only problem with the PA1. The electrical was a problem that cause many electrical fires. It forced the Espee to redo the wiring on all it's units and Santa Fe followed suit.

[helmutsandner]

Thanks for sharing this very informative video about this classic American Diesel locomotive.

[alanritchie]

The ALCO PA's were one of the most beautiful locomotive that ever been made. Save what's left of them.

[Trains-With-Shane]

It's too bad the the 244 prime mover basically doomed the company. Alco really had some good locomotives on paper. Still love the old RS3's.

[DENVERRIOGRANDEMAN]

One of my favorite alco locomotive besides the rs3

[AtomicVisionary]

I actually have an HO scale Southern Railway Alco PA, and it's a very beautiful locomotive, not to mention a smooth and quiet runner. It is also a really good hauler.

[jks]

This locomotive looks right at home in the SW US and northern Mexico

[trainglen]

My favorite locomotive. Pity that it was rushed.

[davewallace]

As a machinist...I understand the demands of percise machining....and quality control.

[davidforsyth]

SP preferred PA's for passenger service over any EMD for use on Donner Pass and other challenging routes due to the robust GE traction motors and superior dynamic brake capacity. Despite this, SP embarked upon a in house upgrade to it's PA fleet in 1952 to improve turbo reliability and simply wiring with the first use of modular electrical components, naturally this program was of great interest to Alco who lent there support to these improvements. Upon rebuilding SP classified them as PA3's they proved extremely reliable not being retired until 1967.

[frederickschulkind]

Interesting that this video used some models to show how the locos looked. Turbochargers experience turbo lag where there is slow response to the throttle and smoke during acceleration resulting from inadequate air supply. EMD eventually worked around that by adding a mechanical blower that cut out once the locomotive reached a higher speed, and so ALCO was using insufficiently developed technology.

[josejeswin]

i am curious about the 241 alco prime mover...the precursor of the 244 and 251....i wish i could find a picture of the has some excellent info about the development and bench testing of the 241..but unfortunately no pictures..it was able to generate 1500 hp from 12 cylinders versus 16 cylinders of the EMD 567 prime mover...kindly do an article on the 241...😊

[cris_]

Southern Pacific was another railroad that kept it's PAs well into the 1960s. Also, one unintended benefit of the PA's long front end was better protection from grade crossing accidents.

[therailfanman]

Great video! The alco PA's we're always some of my favorite units. Could you do a video on the EMD BL2? Or the alco big boy?