Alco locomotives were four stroke diesels, EMD two stroke, two strokes produce higher power, but an Alco four stroke gave better fuel economy in the days of cheap fuel no problems, in today's world they would be the better deal if they were still around. Being that they were built in New York State did not help them to reach into the western markets. Having run Alco's in freight service they handled quite well.
Alco's actually did sell pretty well in the west. SP&S was Alco Heaven, and SP also had a sizable Alco stable. Alco was also a major player in the export market.
GE's FDL and GEVO power plants are 4 stroke as well. And they get better fuel mileage that a typical EMD. I rode in an ex-NYC(Penn Central) C430 with Hi-Adhesion trucks - The 'ride' was far worse than a typical GE U-Boat of the late 60's, and far from comfortable! After several experiences with various PC locomotives in the joint power pool, the CB&Q dumped PC and started a power pool with EL. And to make sure there would be no 'junkers', GP35/SD45 power was specified...
The current Tier 3 EMD and GE locomotives are very close on fuel mileage. The 'Big' issue the industry must address by next year will be meeting Tier 4 emission standards.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Alco probably would still be around had they not had problems with the latest high horspower models. Here in Canada the M630 and M636 were initially favored for western operations over the SD40. However reliability problems resulted in a shift by CP especially to the purchase of the SD40 and SD40-2. Had the M630 proven itself early on then perhpas MLW would have had an order for 400 to 600 of them and they'd still be in business today. But one problematic model can doom the company it seems.. never heard of any problems with the RS-18s or the C424s.. in fact CP and CN both favored the C424 over the GP35.
Retired Trainman Alco locomotives were four stroke diesels, EMD two stroke, two strokes produce higher power, but an Alco four stroke gave better fuel economy in the days of cheap fuel no problems, in today's world they would be the better deal if they were still around. Being that they were built in New York State did not help them to reach into the western markets. Having run Alco's in freight service they handled quite well.
I'm no expert, but I remember reading somewhere that the advantage of having a power stroke at every revolution was minimal if any because of restricted breathing caused by having to purge and recharge the cylinder all at once at the bottom of the stroke. It was hard to completely purge it. Others on this forum can probably comment more knowledgeably about this.
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