And how did a lot of engines end up low on oil? The id10T who went to check the dipstick forgot to turn off the crankcase blower. It is a mistake most only make once. ;^) The oil level is to be checked with engine running at idle and at operating temperature and blower off.

James Shanks

James Shanks ever hear of a place called Tucker's hobbies in Warren, Ma?

+Adam Swindell Work for right now has sort-of stopped till we can find replacement batteries. Look forward to meeting you!

tk aubuchon Can't wait to meet you too. :) And those will surely make any project stop is when the batteries finally fail on you.

It is, probably Florida's humidity at work

TrainsWow™ Thank you!

Ken Ramp Jr Thank you Ken!

Thank you!

If you are interested check out my channel, as it is so far all from the early 1990s! Bob...

Jumpstart

+ERIE1264 Great thank you very much for the reference and the tips!

Ran a RS 3 for 5 years in the Erie Lackawanna yard in Marion, Ohio

Dave Bolyard an ALCO S2 is an End-cab switcher engine. In other words it doesn't have a short and long hood just a long hood

The ALCO switchers used a Mackintosh and Seymour inline 6 cylinder Diesel engine that was designed and went into production in 1939, it was 12 3/4 inch bye 13 inch bore and stroke with an idle speed of 275 rpm and a maximum speed of 740 rpm. Non turbo models called normally aspirated were rated at 660 horsepower which were the S-1 and S-3 models and are easily identifiable by their trucks, the S-1 used Blunt trucks which had a large brake cylinder very obvious on each side that sticks out a little bit, the S-3 uses the standard AAR designed model A truck designed for switching service that is easier and cheaper to maintain than the Blunt truck. The S-2 is the same engine turbocharged which increased power to 1000 horsepower. The S-2 used the Blunt the S-4 uses the AAR type A truck. Another spotting point the 660 horsepower switchers the radiator shutters were vertical while the 1000 horsepower switchers the radiator shutters were horizontal. The RS-1 was essentially a ALCO 1000 horsepower switcher on a lengthened frame with a short hood behind the cab to provide a place to install a steam generator for heating and cooling passenger cars. The RS-1 is the locomotive that set in concrete the form of the diesel electric road switcher for all time. Prior to the its introduction in 1941 freight locomotive's were boxes on wheels which were fine when going forward but lousy when backing up as you couldn't reach the controls when looking out the side window to the rear. The RS-1 solved that problem in one stroke. ALCO introduced the RS-2 in the late 40's introducing the V-12 244 turbocharged engine which was rushed into production by ALCO to compete with EMD which was the only manufacturer to build road freight diesels in WW II giving them a tremendous advantage after the war ended. So ALCO rushed the 244 engine into production even though they knew it still had bugs in it that needed working out. GE supplied the electrical systems to ALCO. GE started providing turbochargers starting with the model 244 engine originally using an air cooled turbocharger as GE built thousands of air cooled turbochargers during the war for the B-17 and other aircraft engines. They were as reliable as they were in the war. But both ALCO and GE made a serious miscalculation with the turbochargers. They were installed inside the hot engine room of a diesel electric locomotive, not on an aircraft where the outside temperature is 20 to 30 degrees below zero which cooled the turbochargers easily. Put the under the hood of a locomotive and the overheated quickly and self destructed sending lots of metal into the engine air intakes damaging the engine. ALCO made good on the repairs but it was over two years be fore they fixed the turbocharger problem, they water cooled it which instantly solved the exploding ALCO turbos. They also had oil lubrication and cooling issues which were all fixed by late 1948 but by then ALCO 244 engines had a bad reputation as a high maintenance unreliable locomotive when the direct opposite was true. There were a few railroads that were 100 % ALCO powered Louville and Nashille and Delaware and Hudson come to mind. In 1952 ALCO introduced the model 251 engine which eliminated all the issues with the 244 engine but in 1959 GE introduced their own domestic locomotive line called the Universal series starting with the U-25 ( 2500 horsepower) to compete with ALCO and EMD and within a couple of years had kicked ALCO from number 2 locomotive maker in the US to number 3 but continued to supply ALCO with electrical components for its locomotive's. ALCO went out of the locomotive business in 1968 and GE became number one in the US 12 years ago. Surprisingly the ALCO 251 engine is still in production, Indian railways were building new locomotive's up to 3300 horsepower until they replaced it with an EMD locomotive that is built in the same factory in India that built ALCO designs. Fairbanks Morse who went out of the diesel locomotive business in 1963 bought the rights tools and dies to the ALCO 251 and you can still buy parts or even brand new engines today. As old a design as it is it still a very fuel efficient engine and you can get it today up to a V-18 rated at 4400 horsepower. Not bad for an engine designed starting back in 1949 and finalized and put into production in 1951. Opps forgot to tell you the inline 6 cylinder 12 3/4 X 13 inch engine is called the 539 normally aspirated or the 539T for the turbo version and was built from 1939 to 1963 when the engine was replaced by a 6 cylinder inline 251 turbocharged engine originally rated at 900 horsepower the updated to 1000 horsepower and with the F series upgrades to the 6-251 engine can go as high as 1800 horsepower with excellent reliability. It's only real issue was excessive black smoke but once the turbocharger came up to speed drive by only the exhaust gas stream from the engine the exhaust cleared up and the engine to this day is noted for heavy freight hauling with exceptional fuel consumption. Against an EMD locomotive of equal horsepower the ALCO will use less fuel than an EMD. One other item the switchers ALCO built were all model S the road freight engines were all model RS for road switcher that was applied years after they went into production. As built ALCO used the DL model numbers DL standing for Diesel Locomotive but that was used in house at Schenectady, New York where they were built. They applied model numbers to sell them such as the Boston and Maine railroad was a big customer for Alcos with 30 RS-3's equipped with steam generators for train heat. But the B&M also bought 5 all switchers model number S-5 the only S-5's every built. Essentially they were the prototype locomotive switchers as they were the first S class switchers with a 6-251 engine rated at 900 horsepower and served the B&M until Guilford bought the railroad. All S class switchers after that using the 6-251 engine were rated at 1000 horsepower. Enjoy your model trains. Sorry for the long winded explanation but to do it right you sorta gotta.

Basically, the S-2 was your regular yard switcher, and the RS-3 is a Road Switcher (that's what the "RS" stands for). The RS series switcher had the power to keep up on mainline speed limits, while the S series couldn't. And of course, the RS-3 rated at 1,600 hp, while the S-2 at 1000 hp and S-3 at 660 hp.

James Shanks, Not all ALCO switchers were Ses. You seem to forget the HH series.

Yoshikaku Shokaku , An ALCO S-2 was limited by its traction motors, gearing, and trucks as to speed on the track. Not by its horsepower. The same engine found in the S-2 and S-4 was found in the RS-1 which could move at mainline speeds.

We're pretty sure the governor is fine just got adjusted out of whack. The problem is most likely in the control panels

Nine times out of ten, you'll find a wiring problem with these governors. The control circuits from the start were over thought and under built. The one in the local museum would not idle evenly when we got it and it had even stumped the folks at the Maryland Midland when they had it. I built a whole new control harness for under the hood from scratch and installed. Idled fine after that and when a person came down from the MM, could not believe it. The biggest headache was the connector at the bulkhead. Each wire had to go in in just the right place, be soldered, be labeled, and then be clear shrink wrapped. If I remember correctly, it was 69 connections crammed into that connector. That harness had the control circuits for the Eddy Clutch fan, Amplidyne unit, blower, Governor, and lights along with temperature control.

Hendo56 historically yes. As well as other electronics

Rebecca Wiesenberg no it’s originally a New York Central, then was used in Amtrak service for a period of time.

cronicjointpain oh he worked it, and he worked it good! Lol..

tk aubuchon Ha ha lmao

ALCOs enjoy a good shaft job. They show their appreciation by smoking for you.

cronicjointpain my miller girl works my shaft real good lol...perverts

+RevDogg What shaft are you talking about?

+RevDogg No lay shaft on this locomotive but i know what you mean. Thanks lol!

Not necessary as when you rotate the starter switch the governor positions the fuel rack to the start position. Jim Retired locomotive engineer

Latios Gaming lol that was my co-worker Chris.

What camera do you use tk aubuchon?

Latios Gaming-War Thunder and More it's just a little canon camera. I dont remember what it was I don't have it anymore lol

Think you can do better?

DieselElevators because this locomotive was one of the first engines the museum acquired. They have two alcos, this one and a Pennsylvania RR. They could only afford to paint one so they had painted the NYC first to have a paint scheme that had Florida Heritage. The other ended up being cannibalized to keep this one running

I guess it makes sense. Personally I would have rather seen a Central lightening stripe scheme put back on it.

DieselElevators don't get me wrong I agree. But the museum just wanted something Florida related. The SAL used RS3's quite heavily. Only difference was the SAL used a single light with a reflector. NYC had horizontal double lights

Had to manually push the contractors in with a flagstick cause they weren’t engaging properly

Contacters *

Yeah, and being a Seaboard unit, it has the wrong headlights like the real one does! The one in the video was formerly New York Central 8277.

Yes, one of the guys pulled the cord and it got stuck so it was blowing at a very low psi. It sounds like a tug boat lol

Doesn't the GP9 have a string for the horn

+Corey Williams It's a GP7 but yes the high hood has two chains connected to a handle to pull for each of its two horns. ALCO has the same

+tk aubuchon are there any updates on this engine?

+Andrew Carlstedt the volunteer working on it is down to only one day a week. So not much is new. However we had a guy come in and blue card our operational locomotives and in his spare time he worked on the ALCO some. He had it running and tried to fix air leaks but they kept popping up. The brave valve was sent in to be rebuilt, but other than that not much is new. They discovered the fuel line has multiple holes and the fuel pump won't prime unless you run a separate hose down the tank. He may come back later to do more work on it but for now I have to say the prognosis is not good

None of them are supposed to idle like that. It's just that so many have electrical problems it's normal to run into one w/that problem.

I know. That was a tongue in cheek comment.

+bearbon2 oh, gotcha haha. Yes I even saw one running at the Texas state railroad museum. Same thing

That is true about the uneven idle. It is normal for the govenor @ idle to do that until some throttle is given. I have a Bachman FA2 with an"econami" DCC/sound and @ idle it sound like that. Don't think of it idling like an EMD. The only other diesel I know of that idles lie that is a Detroit when it's cold.

Arthur McHugh LOL diesel engines don’t use spark plugs.

Alco 4stroke the closest to a detriot in a loco would be a emd

@@gv4058 a EMD is a 2 stroke and they are built by General Motors right. They even use the same green paint. All Detroit Diesels were 2 stroke before 1988 now they are gone and they are all 4 stroke due to the E.P.A. restrictions.

@@lbbradley55 yes you are correct, I'm no where near a gm guy but I love them old detriots and emds their very similar in design but not completely the same. But ya after gm sold them and then epa went into gear and made rules that forced detriot 4stroke even recently emd starting to go 4stroke atleast their still good engines. But I would love to see a modern day alco but I'm sure epa would come after them for smoke, they tend to ruin a lot of good things.

@@lbbradley55 also sorry for the long comment and lack of grammer I tend to do that.

@@gv4058 interesting thanks.

+DeserT BoB Fuel filters were changed, although probably need to be changed again already, and fuel pump was running for some time before we started her.

Something's obviously haywire, if the filters were fresh...look for bacterial plaque in the pump supply line...that'll gum things up in a HURRY. However, it cleaned up nicely and was idling better than MOST 12-244s ever did...most would "hunt" at idle speed due to too much governor gain. Those governors...yeesh, a GE nightmare.

When you weren't getting any start-up smoke, what was our fuel pressure?

Your'e right about that. We believe our problems are in the contactors and relays in the control panels. The OPR was giving us problems although to admit it was a bit low on oil, but after fiddling with the setting at the bottom of the control panel we did get it to idle at a higher than normal RPM. Our issue now is we have to replace some of its batteries, which we are in the process of doing. And if the fuel pressure gauge is correct, its only reading about 5-10 PSI. But even when it was on our weekend excursions i've been told it always read low like that.

LOP at idle? Ut oh, that doesn't sound too good. That's was the #1 reason for crank failure on those 244s. How low was the oil level?