Locomotive 9061

Fayette Central Railroad’s 9061 locomotive is an Alco S-2. The American Locomotive Company of Schenectady, New York built it in 1948 for the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad. Later, it was purchased by the Steelton and Highspire Railroad, an industrial switching railroad near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It eventually ended up at the Eighty-Four Mine in Washington County Pennsylvania. When it was retired, it was purchased by a private owner who is now associated with the Fayette Central Railroad.

The Alco S-2 is powered by a 1000 horsepower McIntosh & Seymour 6 cylinder, turbocharged 539 diesel engine. The S-2 model was produced between April 1940 and June 1950, with a total of 1502 units completed. The S series, which comprised the S-1, S-2, S-3 and S-4 models, was by far the company’s most successful line of diesel locomotives, selling well over 2,000 units by the time production ended. The Alco S-2 was the second model of switcher the company produced and debuted just after Alco released it’s first ever commercial locomotive design, the DL series. The S series would ultimately come in nine different designs, although there are very minor differences amongst some of the models. The first four models saw the highest sales numbers.

Today, one can still see S series locomotives operated on shortlines, industrial railroads and excursion trains around the country, a testament to the model’s high quality of construction and ease of maintenance.

The American Locomotive Company (Alco) was a locomotive manufacturer for years before it switched to building diesels instead of steam. During the steam era, Alco built some of the best and well-known locomotives to ever roam the rails, many of which still survive today. These included locomotives such as the 4-6-4 Hudson, 4-8-4 Niagara,
4-6-6-4 Challenger and the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy.

While Alco held second place in the diesel locomotive market for the first twenty years from the late 1930s onward, it was no contender to EMD (The Electro-Motive Division of General Motors). The company’s outlook would worsen in the 1950s when General Electric, who supplied the electrical apparatus, not only broke ranks with Alco but also went on to debut their own line of locomotives. GE introduced their line of Universal series, which became quite popular and bumped Alco into third place.