What is this type of locomotive?

http://www.thehenryford.org/ex...pic/2001/01.aug.html

Ingersoll-Rand 60 ton diesel switcher.  It now lives at the Illinois Railway Museum,  here it is when it was delivered in 1984:

Rusty

originally built at the former I-R plant in Phillipsburg, NJ.

Long, long ago, when the grass was green and bluebirds sang, MR did a multi-article series on scratch building one in brass.

ChipR

Another unit in the B&O Museum in Baltimore is said to be the world's first commercially successful diesel locomotive.

Full name is Alco General Electric Ingersoll-Rand Oil-Electric Locomotive, a 300HP joint effort switcher. Dates back to the mid 1930's as I recall.

MTH release one in die-cast with Proto-2 several years ago. It was a single-truck drive, but pulled well because of its weight (although the prototype didn't really pull that much anyway). I was hoping MTH would re-release it. Tried to get another one on eBay but was outbid. I wanted to re-paint it in I-R demonstrator colors. I believe the one pictured above actually runs. It's a sweet little engine.

The CNJ Unit is billed as the first successful diesel locomotive by the B&O Museum. It was in the roundhouse for many years but was moved recently to the car shop to provide more room in the roundhouse. 

Plus, MTH offered models of them in 2007.

Rusty

These were reported to be the first diesels that were successfully produced and that they had Ingersoll Rand, 300 HP prime movers, the electrical systems were GE and the carbody, trucks and running gear were Alco.  There were 26 built from 1924 to 1928, qualifying them as "production engines".  Of those the first sold was to the CNJ and was numbered 1000.

Eight of them are still in existence at various museums around the country including at the Ford Museum in Dearborn, the Smithsonian Institution, the B&O museum, IRM in Union, IL, the Museum of Transport in St. Louis and several other locations.  They certainly were significant because of their early development.

The one in the photo above, the C&NW owned three of them, had been ordered because of the C&NW tracks beneath the Merchandise Mart in Chicago as well as a number of other major downtown buildings, to reduce the complaints of noxious fumes coming from steam switchers operating below.

Paul Fischer

>>Eight of them are still in existence at various museums around the country...

Are any operational?

Not that I'm aware of, but keep your eye on the one at Union, IL.  those guys have the room to run something special, and the means to restore it to make it run.  It would be worth a trip from Cleveland over there, for me, to see and hear it run.

Paul Fischer

It does run, we actually fired up the IR diesel after we put it on shop trucks in 84.  It uses a compressed air starter and lopped along nicely at 300rpm.  From what I remember the trucks needed new tires (just like a steam locomotive's) I'm not sure if the traction motors have been checked.

It's all a matter of money and priorities and I don't think it's high on the list.

Personally, I think it would look great restored to her as built looks and pulling three Lack coaches...

Rusty

The LIRR also had several in a 600 HP version used for road service. The 401 had the same body style but lengthened to accomodate two engines. Saw several changes over the years. Started to build one of them in HO by using two of the MDC kits but never finished, might be an interesting engine in O.

Scotie

It's similar to the Dan Patch Electric Lines engines built in 1913. They were electric boxcabs that "temporarily" had oil-burning electric generators placed in them so the engines could run until the line put up overhead wire (which it never did).

http://www.mtmuseum.org/roster.php?page=dpl100