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8/3/2019 Testing the Alco Haulics
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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
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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
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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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20
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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.
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