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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by rdganthracite [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by TARGUBRIGHT I have a question for the Alco fans out there. If Alco's were so good, Why did the Company go out of business??? TIM A [/quote] The answer is actually quite complex but here are some major reasons. 1. the problems with the 244 engine turned off many customers 2. ALCO could not compete with GM's financing of the sales ( example: PRSL wanted C415s but had to "settle" for GP38s due to financing) 3. ALCO did not support the locos after the sale as well as GM 4. ALCO wasted a lot of effort on non locomotive efforts 5. ALCO had to rely on GE for the electricals GM had its own 6. ALCO made some serious design mistakes in the Century lines. i.e the weight balance of nearly all of the 4 axle Centuries. SP wanted to replace all of its switchers with C415s but they were too slippery because most of the weight was over one truck. The C424s and C425 had similar problems. [/quote] 7. STABBED in the back by GE, who took their design and made them their own. What a faithful business partner NOT. I have talked to different rr engineers ( some who ran both steam and diesel) and most all of them agree they would rather run an ALCO engine (when they were new) than anything else. They told me Alco could outpull anything. Also many of them disliked the early GEs because of frequent wheel slips and very rough ride. Alcos 244 engines were not a good product. However the 251 was good. Point #1 was correct. After the problems with the 244 many rrs never gave Alco a chance. My favorite would be the RS1s RS2s and RS3 these had character and style. And for passenger service the Alco PAs.
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