Lionel Alco PA lives up to reputation as "honorary steam engine"

@Texas Eagle 77 posted:

What layout is this?

Ricky

The layout is one of the FCTT-Hirailers modular layouts of which I am a member. You can see more at these links.

http://www.fctt-hirailers.com

https://m.facebook.com/Great-N...ers/730985590721468/

https://m.facebook.com/News8WR...a/10155024735274386/

Pete

@RichMelvin - Great explanation (about the Turbo Lag) and I guess the proof of the pudding - if the Alcos were properly maintained over the years - is that some regional railroads are/were still running them in the recent past!

I need to find the photo I took back around the turn of the century when the Grand Canyon was running the former CN/VIA FPA4s as their primary power.  The turbo lag as it started to leave Williams for its morning run put out a plume of smoke that was quite amazing.   

Finding the photo is harder than it sounds since it was during the days of analog film media.  I wasn't as good at organizing my print film images as I was with my slides and later digital files.

Jonathan - I dunno but your VIA photo surely can’t show any more black smoke billowing than the VIA photo near the beginning of this Post?  WOW!!

Not only the FAs but the C-420 showed the smoke. Fan trip on the LIRR.

@JamesRx posted:

Love the photo RSJB! Still waiting for Lionel to figure out how to make the smoke black!

If you want the smoke to be black, you will have to change the laws of Physics. Either that, or understand them yourself.

@JamesRx posted:

My apologies Rich! I know next to nothing (or actually nothing!) about real Diesel engines.

Thank you for admitting that you posted a comment even though you did not know what you were writing about.  Humility is scarce in the railfan community, and you are forgiven.  You would have been flamed viciously on other online forums.  We are a brotherhood here.

Don't believe everything you hear or read from other, self-proclaimed expert railfans who never saw a PA in service.  Here are some actual facts about Alco PAs, FAs, and low hood road switchers powered by the 244 engine:

1. Not every Alco produced billowing black smoke.  When the GE Amplidyne control system was properly adjusted, there was visible, but much lighter, exhaust.  The Amplidyne control was complicated and had to be adjusted by an electrician who knew what he was doing.
2. Santa Fe ran its large fleet of Alco-GE passenger diesels across the southwest at 100 MPH over prairies, deserts, and severe mountain grades for over 30 years and -- after Alco came up with an improved turbocharger in 1949 -- had almost no road failures with these PA1 and PB1 locomotives.  I saw them in service for years and only saw one dead Alco in a consist.  Other railroads -- Erie, Spokane Portland & Seattle, Delaware & Hudson -- moved all, or a large percentage of their trains with Alco-GE 244-powered locomotives, maintained their Alcos well, and got good service from them.  Others disliked the Alcos because of early road failures and never again trusted them, treating them with contempt and begrudgingly performed maintenance, scrapping them as soon as the equipment trusts expired.
3. They always required more maintenance than EMD units, but this was mainly fuel and oil leaks, not engine failures.  The 244 engine vibrated more than did the EMD 567, and simply needed to see a machinist with a wrench to have leaks stopped.
4. You should memorize the post by Rich Melvin, which clearly explains a lot.

They were not lemons.  

Remember the facts so that you can discredit the "experts" who never ran, or even saw, a 244-engined Alco in main line service.  They "learned" everything from others who had no first hand 244 experience.  When you mention Amplidyne, they will get a deer-in-the-headlights look, because they have only superficial and incorrect "knowledge" and would't even know how to spell Amplidyne, let alone understand what a splendid control system it was and how important it was to first generation Alco-GE diesel locomotives.