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ALCO C430P

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  • Member since
    September 2002
  • From: Maricopa, AZ
  • 269 posts
Posted by DanRaitz on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 9:54 AM

For what it might have looked like, take a look at the MLW M420W.

If women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy .... Red Green
  • Member since
    September 2003
  • 21,669 posts
Posted by Overmod on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 5:24 AM

There might be specs or drawings either at DOT somewhere or at NJT.  Presumably this was a competitive tender for the GP40Ps, as that might fit the timeframe between Alco building the last of the C420 engines for the Long Island and exiting the domestic locomotive business.  I think C430s were only made in '67 and '68 domestically.

There are two broad possibilities.  One is the aforementioned 'more modern' version of what LIRR got, presumably to run on CNJ as that was the thing in New Jersey getting updated engines in the necessary timeframe.  I find this the most likely thing at the time.  The other is a FPA4-like analogue of the C636P, probably with Hi-Ad trucks tuned for higher speed -- this would have been interesting if provided with similar equipment to the GP40Ps.

It might be interesting to see if Alco was actively tendering long enough to have a C636P alternative for DOT/NJT to go on the lightweight trains that were built with U34CHs.  Six-motor Alcos had been notably successful in commuter testing (on PRR and I think CNJ in the latter Fifties), foundering only on the issue of capital allocation, so Schenectady might have had a leg up in initial bidding.  Whether these would have the HEP-at-720-rpm arrangements like the U34CHs would be something that Allen Haven or Will Davis might have insight into.  They would certainly be something to watch... except the cumulative smoke emission over the years the way NJT ran the big GEs might have been in the kiloton range!

Those eould have been hoods, like the GP40P and U34CH, and optimized for 'alternative' EL freight service... which may imply they would not get Hi-Ad trucks despite the primary service and the 'purchasing subsidy' from DOT.  Certainly EL's four-motor Centuries did not have them.

  • Member since
    May 2011
  • 187 posts
ALCO C430P
Posted by IA and eastern on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 7:17 PM

There was a ALCO C430P proposed for New Jersey. Is there a drawing for this locomotive anywhere. Gary

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