ALCO RS-3m
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A former Conrail RS-3m locomotive now owned by the Cape May Seashore Line Railroad. May 6, 2009 | |||||||||||
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The ALCO RS-3m is a diesel-electric locomotive rebuilt from an ALCO RS-3 road switcher. These 98 locomotives were rebuilt to replace their original ALCO prime mover with the more reliable EMD 567B engine and fan assemblies taken from retired E8s. Many of these rebuilds were performed by the ex NYC DeWitt shop with 56 completed at the ex PRR Juniata shop. The RS3m rebuild program started in 1972 and continued until 1978 under Conrail.
Perhaps one of the earliest examples of the RS3m is the former Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad's RS3m fleet. Built in the early 1950s by ALCO, the Katy had them rebuilt in the late 1950s by ALCO competitor, EMD, who rebuilt them with GP9 long hoods to make room for the larger EMD 567 prime movers.
The Chicago and North Western Railway had a pair of RS-3ms (1613 & 1624) that were rebuilt by ALCO in March 1960 using an 1,800 hp 12 cylinder ALCO 251-B engine and schedule 26L air brake components. These featured long hoods from ALCO RS-11 road switchers.