The ALCO FA was a family of B-B diesel locomotives designed to haul freight trains. The locomotives were built by a partnership of ALCO and General Electric in Schenectady, New York, between January 1946 and May 1959. Designed by General Electric's Ray Patten, they were of a cab unit design; both cab-equipped lead FA and cabless booster FB models were built. A dual passenger-freight version, the FPA/FPB, was also offered. It was equipped with a steam generator for heating passenger cars. ALCO's designation of F marks these locomotives as being geared primarily for freight use, whereas the P designation of the PA sets indicates that they were geared for higher speeds and passenger use. However, beyond this their design was largely similar - aside from the PA/PB's both being larger A1A-A1A types with an even more striking nose - and many railroads used FA and PA locomotives for both freight and passenger service. Several examples of FAs and FBs have been preserved. While most are now in the care of railroad museums, a few remain in operational status on such lines as the Grand Canyon Railway and the Napa Valley Wine Train.
Service history
Three different models were offered. The FA-1/FB-1, which featured a rating, was built from January 1946 to October 1950, with a version produced between March and August 1950. The FA-2/FB-2 was built between October 1950 and June 1956. Finally, the FPA-4/FPB-4, powered by the 251V-12 engine, was built between October 1958 and May 1959 by ALCO's Canadian subsidiary, Montreal Locomotive Works. The FAs, as well as their cousins, the ALCO PAs, were born as a result of ALCO's development of a new diesel engine design, the Model 244. In early 1944, development started on the new design, and by November 1945, the first engines were beginning to undergo tests. This unusually short testing sequence was brought about by the decision of ALCO's senior management that the engine and an associated line of road locomotives had to be introduced no later than the end of 1946. In preparation for this deadline, by January 1946, the first four locomotives with the 244 engines had been built. Two FA-1s and an FB-1 were painted in ALCO Demonstrator colors and were released for road tests for a month and a half on the Delaware and Hudson Railway. A strike at ALCO delayed production beyond the first four units and the three demonstrator units began working on the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad in mid February 1946. The demonstrators were returned to Schenectady when the remainder of the order began delivery in May 1946. The GM&O order was completed in April 1947 for a total of 80 units. Before the end of this production run, ALCO upgraded the generators and traction motors in the locomotives, with the first of these models entering service in February 1947 for the New York Central. In 1950, the Montreal Locomotive Works, an affiliate of ALCO, began production of FAs as well. In the Fall of 1950, an upgraded model, the FA-2, was launched. This model featured an uprated Model 244 engine, with an output of 1600 horsepower. Additionally, the carbody was lengthened, making possible the addition of a steam generator in the A unit to allow for use in passenger service. Models equipped as such were designated the FPA-2/FPB-2. The first FA-2s were delivered in October 1950 to the Baltimore and Ohio and the Erie. By this time, however, the cab unit had fallen out of favor due to the greater versatility of road switchers, and US production of the FA line ended in 1956, with Canadian production ending in 1959. From the 1970s until 1999, the MTA Long Island Rail Road used 20 FA units converted into "power packs". The traction motors were removed, and original prime movers replaced with 600 horsepower engines/generators solely for supplying HEP. The engineer's control stand was left intact, allowing the engines to be used in push-pull service with other locomotives, which usually lacked HEP. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, the railroad began retiring the ALCOs in favor of new bi-level cab cars and locomotives with HEP installed.
Original production
Units produced by ALCO and the Montreal Locomotive Works (1946–1956)
Units produced by ALCO and the Montreal Locomotive Works (1950–1959)
ALCO and MLW built 152 of the various FP models with the largest quantity, 38% of the total production, sold to Canadian National Railway.
Surviving examples
Some 20 units of various designations exist today in a preserved state. Several excursion railways own operating examples which are in regular service, including MLW units received from Via Rail Canada.
The Grand Canyon Railway owns 3 FPA-4s, and two FB-1s.
The Danbury Railway Museum owns an FPA-4 and FPB-4, which were last used in revenue service on the New York Central Railroad. They have been restored as Canadian National FPA-4 6786 and FPB-4 #6867. Also at the Danbury Railway Museum is ex-New Haven FA-1 0428.
The Monticello Railway Museum owns CN 6789, an MLW FPA-4, and CNR 6862, an MLW FPB-4. CN 6789 was into operating condition, and is used on museum trains. Both have been repainted into the green/yellow scheme that CN used early on.
Canadian National 6854 is owned by a private owner in Bridgeton, NJ.
Canadian National 6783 is reportedly stored in Scranton, PA
ALCO "World Locomotive"
Alco built 23 A1A-A1A trucked FCA-3s for Pakistan Railways in 1951 and 1953. These were the equivalent of an FPA-2 riding on A1A trucks. ALCO's "World Locomotive", the DL500, originated as a newly designed demonstrator based on the FA-2. The first 25 DL500s used the model 244 engine rated at. Later DL500s were like the FPA-4 and utilize the ALCO model 251B diesel engine as the prime mover and are rated at. All DL500s were built with C-C trucks, but B-B or paired A-1-A trucks were offered as an option. The only locale within the Americas where ALCO-built cab units, such as All America Latina Logistica, still see daily usage in freight duty is Argentina. A total of 369 DL500 locomotives were built by ALCO, AE Goodwin, and MLW between May 1953 and December 1967.
Similar DL500 locomotives were also used in Greece, Pakistan, Peru, and Spain.
India
In india the DL500 were introduced as the Indian locomotive class WDM-1 in 1957. They were in service till early 1990s.
Popular culture
A February 2014 episode of the TV series The Big Bang Theory, "The Locomotive Manipulation", takes place on a train pulled by what is incorrectly described as an "Alcoa FA-4".
