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6 THE CALL BOARD NEWSLETTER OF THE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER, N.R.H.S. October 1990

Testing the Alco-Haulicsby Harold Crouch

Readers of the "Call Board" may recall

the big Southern Pacific RR diesel-hy-

draulic drive locomotives that ALCO built

for them back in the early 1960s. Each unit

was of 4300 horsepower and consisted of

two ALCO 12-cylinder 251 oil engines

each driving a Voith hydraulic drive

transmission. These transmissions weremade by the Voith Company in Germany.

The transmissions were unique in that

three torque converters were all mounted

on a common shaft that was driven by the

prime mover. The output shaft of the

transmission passed through the hollow

center pin of the truck to connect the three

axles of the truck by means of gear boxes.

Braking - similar to that of a diesel-electric

locomotive - was also incorporated. Op-erating a locomotive of this type was quite

similar to that of a steam locomotive. If the

engineer was "heavy handed" on the

throttle, all that occurred was that the wheels

would slip, same as a steam loco. A diesel-

electric loco, on the other hand, would slip

it's wheels and with heavy current going to

the traction motors, the motors can be

overheated and damage sustained, In

passing, it is worth mentioning, thatAMTRAK's Turbo-liners, as used on the

The poor ALCO people were rapidly going

up the wall trying to figure out what was

wrong. As may be suspected, it was

something simple, somehow the angle cock

in the sander trainline had been closed on

the If2 end of the lead unit. With good sandrunning, the units took the train up the

grade with no further difficulty.

At West Springfield, the units were cut

off while the train proceeded with regularALCO FA power. The next day - a Sun-

day - we started back to Selkirk with a

special train of 6,000 tons. The units rolled

the tonnage right up Washington Mountain

(2.5% grade) just as if the mountain wasn't

there. It so happened that the head brake-

man was in the cab with me and aswe rolled

along, Iasked him how fast we would be

going if we had comparable diesel-electric

(individual axle drive) locomotives. Hisanswer was short and to the point - stalled

at the yard limit sign!!! For me this was a

wonderful demonstration of what this type

of motive power can dol!' As a result of this

test, it was determined that hydraulic drive

type locomotives can handle twice the

tonnage on any given grade, as compared to

the diesel-electric type locomotive with

individual axle drive. It should be pointed

out that it is not the hydraulic drive portion,but the simple fact that the axles on the

Rio Grande people from the Test Dept,

showed me the tonnage ratings they had

developed for the units. They likewise had

determined that for any given grade the

hydraulic drive units could handle twice

the tonnage the diesel-electric units could

for the same horsepower input. Conversely,

for the same tonnage, a train with hydraulic

drive units could go faster. It is to be real-

ized that in recent years sophisticated wheel-slip control devices have been developed to

TRY and obtain the same results that the

hydraulic drive units can give. However,

these only add to the complexity of the

locomotive and are potential causes of de-

lays and failures which the rail industry can

do without!

After the demonstration on the B&A, a

proposal was made to take two ALCO FA

units (that were at Collinwood backshopfor overhaul) and apply new longer axles to

the trucks, the outboard ends to have cranks

and side rods applied similar to some in-

dustriallocomotives. This would be for test

purposes only. If, as highly suspected, it-;;

turned out that the existing diesel-electric

locomotive could reach or approach what

the hydraulic drive could do, then the

manufacturers could be asked to provide a

retrofit kit to modify the diesel-electriclocomotives. Additional advantages would



October 1990 NEWSLETTER OF THE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER, N.R.H.S. THE CALL BOARD 7

A L C O

4300 HP Diesel-Hydraulic Locomotive

for High Speed Freight Service

General Characteristics 1963

Model Number Hydraulic 643

Class AAR Designation C-C

Track Gauge 4' 8 112"

Maximum Locomotive Speed 77 MPH

Engines ......•................................ ... Two Alco 12 Cylinder Model 251-C

Principle Dimensions

Height (Over Cab) 15' 0"Width (Maximum) 10' 1-5/8"

Key to Diagram(over page)

4300 HP Diesel-Hydraulic Locomo-

tive

1 Engine

2 Hydraulic transmission

3 Auxiliary generator4 Control stand

5 Brak<: valves

6 Elt::ctrical control equipment

7 Mechanical air cleaner (engine

air)

8 Air cleaner exhauster

9 Engine and transmission cool-

ing unit

10 Radiata-

11 Radiator fan12 Radiator fan drive shaft

13 Radiator shutter

1 4 Lubricating oil filter

15 Lubricating oil strainer

16 Lubricating oil cooler

17 Transmission oil heat exchanger

18 Air compressor

19 Main air reservoir

20 Fuel tank

21 Fuel tank filling connection22 Fuel oil filter



October 1990 NEWSLETTER OFTHE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER: N.R.H.S. THECALL BOARD 8

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9 THE CALL BOARD NEWSLETTER OF THE MOHAWK & HUDSON CHAPTER: N.R.H.S. October 1990

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D iagram o f A LCO PRODUCTS' 4 300 hor sepowe r d ie se l- hydra ul ic f rei gh t l ocomot iv e.