I Think They Liked ALCO

The two ALCO C-420 units on the front of this post card are passing in front of what was once the General Office Builing of the Lehigh & Hudson River Railway in Warwick, New York on June 11, 1976.

This excerpt of the history of the Lehigh & Hudson Railway was taken from this website; it is a good read, I recommend that you go there. https://www.trains.com/ctr/railroads/fallen-flags/remembering-the-lehigh-hudson-river-railway-a-history/ L&HR’s origins date to 1860, when arrival of the New York & Erie Railroad (NY&E), at Greycourt, New York, 10 miles north of Warwick, prompted construction of the Warwick Valley Railroad under the leadership of Grinnell Burt. The Warwick Valley (WV) operated as a 6-foot-gauge feeder to the same-gauge NY&E, using the big road’s equipment for two decades. Around 1880, WV assumed its own operations, was standard-gauged, and built the 11-mile Wawayanda Railroad, which tapped agricultural and mineral sources at McAfee, New Jersey. The two competitive lines were combined as the Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad, extending from a Pennsylvania Railroad connection at Belvidere, New Jersey, on the Delaware River, to Hamburg, New Jersey, where three miles of isolated Sussex Railroad track linked it to the Warwick Valley. In 1882 the extensions were folded into the 61-mile Lehigh & Hudson River Railway. Trackage rights were obtained from the Pennsy over 13 miles of its Belvidere-Delaware Division (“Bel-Del”) to Phillipsburg, New Jersey. There, disconnected subsidiaries undertook bridging the Delaware to access Easton, Pennsylvania, and the Jersey Central and Lehigh Valley. The bridge also opened in 1890, creating a three-state route of about 85 miles. The L&HR thus fulfilled the prescient vision of the line’s 1861 directors, who reported, “It was well understood by those . . . promoting the construction of the Warwick Valley Railroad, that in all probability it would be but a link in a great chain destined to be one of the most important thoroughfares, and to effect an important influence upon the commerce and manufacturers of an extensive section of our country . . .” Additional links soon extended the chain of this “important thoroughfare.” In 1950, it replaced 16 steam engines, including the 6-year-old 4-8-2s, with 11 Alco RS3s; two more arrived in 1951. Radio communication came in 1958. Alco’s first two production C420 diesels arrived in 1963, and seven more by mid-1966 shared assignments with the six remaining RS3s. In 1976 the federal Regional Rail Reorganization Act that created Conrail took in most northeastern bankrupts including L&HR, and CR’s management proved as committed to abandonment of the Maybrook Gateway as PC’s had been. The former L&HR, reduced to a Conrail branch, limped along, bearing slight resemblance to its former proud, busy self as a few of the remaining C420s served a dwindling customer base. Rail movement of zinc ended in 1980, and the track between Limecrest and Belvidere was removed a few years later. To the credit of its president, W. Gifford Moore, and trustee, John G. Troiano, L&HR paid off its creditors and entrusted its historical records to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

The post card was published by Mary Jayne Rowe's company "Mary Jayne's Railroad Specialties, Inc. When I realized that there was a numbering system (MJ629 in the stamp box) to her post cards I wrote a letter to her. I told her that I was cataloguing my post card collection and asked if she had an index of her publications she could share with me. I have 243 post cards that she published in my collection. Her beautiful response was to tell me that it was such a polite request that she sent it to me for free; all she asked was that I make a donation to a local charity. I made a donation to "Feeding Hungry Minds" endowment fund that provides funds for feeding free lunches in schools.

Alcophile???

The back of this post card tells us that the ALCO C-424 locomotive on the front of this post card, while now belonging to the Green Bay & Western Railroad, is still wearing Wisconsin Rapids Railroad colours.

A couple of weeks ago I posted some information about the Green Bay & Western Railroad. Today, I will provide all the information that I could find about the Wisconsin Rapids Railroad. There is a private Facebook page that contains this information: "Wisconsin Rapids Railroad, L.L.C. ("WRR"), a non-earner, hereby files this notice of exemption under 49 C.F.R. § 1150.31, et seq. to lease and operate a rail line of Wisconsin Central Ltd. ("WCL") extending from approximately milepost 0.4 to approximately milepost 1.5 in Biron, Wisconsin, a distance of approximately 1.1 miles (the "Biron Lead"). Based on projected revenues for the Biron Lead, WRR expects to be a Class III rail carrier.” And this site https://railroadfan.com/wiki/index.php/Wisconsin_Rapids_Railroad tells us the following: “The Wisconsin Rapids Railroad is a short industrial railroad running from Wisconsin Rapids to Biron. The railroad is owned by ND Paper and operated by Watco. WRR interchanges with CN at Wisconsin Rapids.” The caption on the back of the post card reads like this: Attention Alcophiles! The green Bay & Western has long been an all-ALCO Diesel railroad, making it a must visit for die-hard ALCO fans, better known as Alcophiles. C424 #312 still displays vintage colors of Wisconsin Rapids in 1969. This post card is published by RAILCARDS.COM, that ever-elusive publisher of 204 of the railroad postcards in my collection.

This Big Lug is Very Useful

The huge locomotive pictured on the front of this post card is an

ALCO Century-628 owned by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad (CNW). The CNW acquired a fleet of these locomotives from Norfolk & Western. This locomotive was employed for lugging heavy but slow ore trains. It is seen here at Proviso, Illinois in 1977. Here is a bit of history about the ALCO C-628, part of their Century Series of locomotives. This website is the apex of railroad information, in my opinion. I use Adam Burns’ site as a reference very often. https://www.american-rails.com/628.html By: Adam Burns The C628 was Alco's first in its line of six-axle, C-C road switchers. Overall these behemoths were as powerful as they appeared. The C628 would prove to be Alco's most successful six-axle Century, selling nearly 200 units. With the C628, “C” stood for Century series, “6” was the axle number, and the last two digits were the horsepower rating (2,800 h.p.). The C628 up to that time offered the most starting (85,750 pounds) and continuous tractive effort (79,500 pounds) of any locomotive in its class, which is a significant reason why some railroads really liked them. The Alco C628 debuted in late 1963 as a replacement for the builder's RSD-15 line.

Here is the back of the post card that was published by the ever elusive RAILCARDS.COM

Arizona Apache Takes on a Different Meaning

Apache ALCO C-420 locomotives numbered 81 to 84 and an RS-36 (also from ALCO) are seen on the front of this post card near Holbrook, Arizona on August 24, 1994. The C-420s came from four different railroads and the RS-36 was delivered new to the Apache Railroad in the early 1960s.

Why ask the Wikipedia people about something when you can go straight to the source? That is what I did. The Apache Railway still has a website... and quite the varied past. This website tells it all: http://apacherailway.com/about/ The information below is from their website. The Apache Railway was incorporated in 1917, when it began construction of a rail line from Holbrook south, reaching Snowflake in 1918. It was extended south to McNary in 1920. From October 1, 1931, until 1936, amid the Great Depression, the APA was placed in receivership. A tourist railroad, the White Mountain Scenic Railroad, operated steam powered passenger excursions over the Southwest Forest Industries-owned line from McNary to the logging camp of Maverick, AZ, beginning in 1964. My dad and I rode this train in the early 1970s before I went to New Jersey to go to college. I have some post cards of this tourist train in my collection. As track conditions deteriorated, the excursions were cut back in later years to a point about half of the way to Maverick. In the final years, it operated north from Pinetop Lakes to a place called Bell Siding on U.S. Route 60. In 1976, the White Mountain Scenic Railroad ceased operations and moved its equipment to Heber City, Utah to be used on an excursion there known as the “Heber Creeper.” The line from Maverick to McNary, with some elevations exceeding 9,000 ft (2,700 m), was removed in 1982 after the McNary sawmill closed. By the 1980s, the Apache Railway was Arizona’s only remaining logging railroad. The track from Snowflake to McNary was abandoned in 1982. The Apache Railway offered passenger service until the 1950s. In July 1954, the mixed train operated on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, departing McNary at 7:15 am, arriving Holbrook at 12:15 pm, departing there at 1:30 pm and returning to McNary at 7:00 pm. The Apache Railway is now here for you!

The post card was published by Audio-Visual Designs (AVD) in Earlton, New York. It was published after October of 1983 because the 7-digit zip code has an additional 4 digits appended to it. AVD was started in 1964 by Carl Sturner for the sole purpose of providing railfans with sound recordings of locos and trains as well as with photochrome postcards of trackside photos.

Let's Go to Wisconsin to see the ALCOs!!

The picture on the front of this post card is of freshly painted C430 and C424 ALCO locomotives. They are heading out of Green Bay, Wisconsin in August of 1977. The railroad that owns these two ALCO locomotives is the Green Bay & Western Railroad (GB&W). Sadly, it is no longer operational as the GB&W.

In my mind, there is no better source for the history of a “Fallen Flag” railroad than that railroad’s historical society. The information below is taken from the Green Bay & Western Railroad Historical Society. I strongly recommend that you visit their website for their unique perspective on the history of the Green Bay & Western Railroad (GB&W). This is their address: Green Bay & Western Historical Society, Inc. P.O. Box 940 Plover, WI 54467 This is their website address: https://www.gbwhs.com/gbw.html All the information below was taken from their website. Please go in and take a look around; it is very interesting. The Green Bay & Western Railroad packed a lot of fascination into just 248 miles of mainline and precious few branch lines. The GBW was chartered in 1866 as the Green Bay & Lake Pepin Railway. At the time, many railroads tried to link major waterways, and in 1873 the railroad, then called the Green Bay & Mississippi, linked the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River. Ultimately it ran from the Lake Michigan port of Kewaunee to Green Bay and west through the paper mill town of Wisconsin Rapids to the Mississippi River at Winona, Minnesota, the only place where it left the state of Wisconsin. The GBW even had a subsidiary on its east end, the Ahnapee & Western, which was twice independent and twice a part of the GBW. But the Great Depression dealt a heavy blow to the marginal railroad. Its frugal president, Frank B. Seymour, managed to keep the railroad alive. But it took a visionary man to see a prosperous future for the GBW. Homer E. McGee, a former Katy executive, became president of the GBW in 1934 and began an upgrading program that would improve the railroad’s track, rolling stock and financial health over the coming decades. Early on, however, the railroad was a financial failure. Traffic was sparse in the Wisconsin wilderness; passenger trains never found a real home on the “Grab Baggage & Walk.” The railroad’s resources were drained by derailments, roundhouse fires and floods. The GB&M would emerge from bankruptcy in 1881 as the Green Bay, Winona & St. Paul Railroad, only to go bankrupt again and emerge in 1896 as the Green Bay & Western Railroad. On August 28, 1993, the GBW was purchased by the Wisconsin Central Limited. Its traffic and employees were absorbed by the WC, and the remaining ALCOs were dispersed to other short lines across the U.S. Today, two-thirds of the GBW’s mainline remains in service as part of the Canadian National. The GBW was famous for ALCO power, the Harley-Davidsons of diesel locomotion. They were an ALCO customer since the 19th Century, even before steam locomotive builders like Brooks, Dickson and Schenectady merged to form the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). Every diesel the GBW ever owned – from the HH660 they bought in 1938, to the FA1s and RS2s that banished steam, to their 16-unit fleet when the railroad passed into history in 1993 – was a snorting, smoking, four-stroke product of Schenectady, New York. But the GBW was much more than ALCOs. For most of their history, their eastern connection was a fascinating cross-lake car ferry operation. From 1892 to 1990, sturdy vessels of the Ann Arbor Railroad and the Pere Marquette Railway (later the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway) battled November storms and winter ice to force railroad reliability upon treacherous Lake Michigan. In the 1950s, hundreds of freight cars moved across the lake every day, and even though this market would eventually vanish, you can still ride a car ferry across Lake Michigan.

This is the back of the post card. You can see that it was published by RAILCARDS.COM , a no longer existing company about which I can find no information.

What do you mean by "Dashing Commuter"?

The locomotive pictured on the front of this post card is an ALCO model C420 built in 1968. It is pictured in a fresh paint job with the colours of the Long Island Railroad. This view is at Oyster Bay Yard in February of 1976.

Some would say that this paint scheme makes the engine look “dashing”, which would fit nicely with the slogan of the railroad: “Route of the Dashing Commuter.” I am sure that this is what they meant by the slogan, not the commuter dashing to catch the train because he or she is late!! The details about the ALCO C420 locomotive are gleaned from this website. I recommend that you go to this website for any railroad-related questions: https://www.american-rails.com/420.html American Locomotive's first new Century models was the C420. It was a four-axle design that offered sufficient horsepower. The C420 was meant to be a less powerful version of the C424, which was being produced at the same time. As John Kirkland points out in his book, "The Diesel Builders: Volume Two," it was essentially an extension of the earlier RS32. On a broader perspective, the C420 did prove one of Alco's more successful in the Century line and could be found on numerous railroads. The Alco C420 used the builder's new 261C prime mover that was much more reliable over its earlier designs. The model began production in June of 1963. As the designation suggests, which was a completely new system unveiled by Alco, the "C" stood for Century, "4" regarded the number of axles, and "20" referred to the horsepower), the C420 could produce 2,000 horsepower and fuel efficiency. They found buyers among several Class I railroads.

The post card was published by that elusive publisher, Railcards.com

Another Alco at Work

In 1975, the Boston & Maine Railroad Corporation filed to abandon the operation of the Concord to Lincoln 117 kilometer (73 miles) rail line, known as the “White Mountain Branch”. Recognizing the need of the on-line customers and the potential of the line for a sewer right-of-way, the State of New Hampshire purchased the branch and sought a shortline railroad to carry out operations. The first to assume this responsibility was the Wolfeboro Railroad, which operated the line as their "Central Division" in 1976, but soon thereafter ended operations. In early 1977, the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (PUC) entered into an agreement with the Goodwin Railroad to take over the operation. Under the terms of the operating agreement, Goodwin Railroad agreed to provide rail freight services, and the PUC agreed to subsidize the operation. Goodwin Railroad was to be subsidized based on the "differences between revenue earnings of the line . . . and the necessary costs of providing services," plus an annual management fee.

The engine shown on the front of this post card was owned by the Goodwin Railroad. It is the railroad's Number 1 engine, an ex-MEC (number 557) and ex-Wolfeboro (number 101). This picture was taken on February 10, 1978. The photo is courtesy of Ronald N. Johnson. The Goodwin Railroad, an extension of Weaver Bros. Construction, was created in 1977 to operate the trackage, and did so until it too ended operations in 1980. Following the demise of the Goodwin, the North Stratford Railroad stepped in as an interim operator until the state could find a dependable and permanent operator. Peter Dearness approached the State of New Hampshire with a bid to operate the trackage with his newly formed New England Southern Railroad. Dearness' railroad won the bid, and in 1982 the operating contract was awarded to the New England Southern, which began freight operations on September 3, 1982, using State of New Hampshire-owned ALCO S1 1008. The railroad also leased a GE 44-ton switcher, #2, also state-owned. The first freight run consisted of a tanker for Home Gas in Northfield, a boxcar for Blue Seal Feeds (H.K. Webster) in Lakeport, and another boxcar of casting sand for Arwood Manufacturing in Tilton. On May 10, 2020, it was reported that the Vermont Rail System was to acquire New England Southern Railroad. In June of 2020, the sale was finalized and VRS became the immediate owner of NEGS. Its sole engine (2555) was patched with GMTX logos and renumbered to 1505. Currently, the New England Southern operates under Vermont Rail Systems and regularly only on the state-owned White Mountain Branch in central New Hampshire. The railroad's sole interchange point is with Pan Am Railways at Concord, from which loaded cars come inbound and empties depart.

The post card was published by Mary Jayne's Railroad Specialties (I have 243 post cards in my collection from her) with a little help from Alleghany Publishers. What is of note is that the post card was sent to the receiver by a person named Ron. I am wondering if the same Ron was the person who took the picture. The post card was sent without a stamp, as if it was part of a larger communication package. It would be very convenient to have a handful of these post cards on hand to use as personal notes!

Talk About Different!

The locomotive on the front of this post card is extremely unique. It is an FPA-4. What makes it unique is that this is a Canadian National Railway (CNR) locomotive and the FPA-4s were built exclusively for the CNR. It is pulling a train on a route that no longer operates.

This was part of a weekend service between Toronto and North Bay, Ontario. The route is 350 miles long. Today, VIA Rail operates passenger services in Canada and they no longer make this run. One must to to Sudbury and hope to make some sort of connection using other transportation to get to North Bay. A part of this train is a bullet-end observation car built in 1937 for Reading Railroad’s “Crusader”. It was then given to the CNR for their luxurious “Champlain” route between Montreal and Quebec City. This picture was taken in August of 1977. The information below was taken from this website: https://www.pwrs.ca/view_product.php?ProductID=157278 In 1940, General Electric (GE) and American Locomotive Co. (Alco) concluded a sales and marketing agreement to manufacture diesel locomotives under the Alco-GE label. While World War Two prevented immediate building, the Alco-GE planning efforts continued. In the 1940s, EMD's (General Motors’ locomotive division) success with their "FT" freight diesels drove Alco to develop their own streamlined freight locomotives. These diesels were developed around Alco's new turbo-charged "244" prime mover, GE electrical systems and AAR type B trucks. As a result, the first FA/FB set was delivered to the Gulf Mobile &Ohio Railroad in 1946. The 1500-h.p. FA1s and FB1s sold quickly, and were succeeded in 1950 by the up-powered FA2s and FB2s. Also in 1946, Alco delivered their first streamlined passenger diesels to the Santa Fe. These 2000 h.p. units in cab/booster configuration were later designated the PA/PB-1 type. Upgrades in 1950 resulted in the PA/PB-2 type. Some units were later rebuilt and popularly called PA/PB-4s. In 1950, Alco upgraded their specifications to DL-212 (cab) and DL-213 (booster). Since these units were designed for dual freight/passenger service. To accommodate steam generators, both units were lengthened, cabs to 53'6" and boosters to 52'8". These units were rated at 1500 h.p. The cab units were 51'6" long and the boosters were 50'6" long, leaving no room for steam generator equipment. All DL-208/209 units went to the Gulf Mobile & Ohio. Units built to later specifications (DL-208A/209A, DL-208B/209B and DL-208C/209C) were more widely distributed. Units with steam generators installed were designated FPA-2 and FPB-2. In 1951 through 1953, the Montreal Locomotive Works produced FA-2s and FB-2s under Alco specifications ME1600FA and ME1600FB. These were produced for Canadian National Railways and Canadian Pacific Railway in 1951-1953. Alco FA-2s and FB-2s built with steam generators installed were designated FPA-2 and FPB-2. Only the Missouri Pacific and some Mexican railroads had FP models built at the Schenectady plant. All other FPs were built by the Montreal Locomotive Works produced FA-2s and FB-2s under Alco specifications ME1600FA and ME1600FB. These were produced for Canadian National Railways, Canadian Pacific Railway, and National de Mexico in 1953-1955. Montreal Locomotive Works also produced the FPA-4 and FPB-4, under Alco specifications DL218 and DL219. Not only were the engines uprated to 1600 h.p., car bodies were stretched to 54'0" (cab) and 53'2" (booster). The locomotive on the front of this post card is one of those locomotives. They were produced exclusively for the CNR.

The post card was published by JBC Visuals out of Totonto. The photo credit is given to Ted Wickson.