The Iconic Alco PA

The Alco PA series (Alco is short for American Locomotive Company) has often been regarded as the most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing diesel locomotive model ever built, even going so far as being designated an honorary steam locomotive! There is no doubt that when one combs the library of diesel designs over the years the PA, at the very least, ranks as one of the best ever purely on its looks. The model was designed for passenger train service and meant to compete with the Electro-Motive Division's highly successful E series that had debuted some years earlier. Unfortunately, the PA never sold well for Alco (initial sales did prove promising), as the original prime mover the builder employed was simply unreliable and problematic. Today, no PAs are operational although one is working towards this status and another shell is to be cosmetically restored.

Wartime restrictions prevented Alco from any significant work on a competing model but worked feverishly after the war. This, unfortunately, is what cost the PA. Working in conjunction with General Electric on the model, the company used GE's Ray Patten to give the locomotive a fine exterior appearance (Patten also designed the PA's freight counterpart, the FA), and he unveiled an incredibly stunning carbody. However, Alco rushed the development of its new model 244 prime mover, giving its engineers just a year after the war ended to work out any troubleshooting issues and have the engine reading for production.

Initially, the problems of the 244 were masked by Alco's then-excellent reputation as a locomotive builder. The company had also used the 244, quite successfully, in the production of small switcher and road-switcher designs although the prime mover simply wasn't ready for heavy, main line applications. In June, 1946 the PA began testing on the Lehigh Valley Railroad clad in a beautiful demonstrator livery of maroon with silver trim, and the combined GE/Alco livery along the nose and carbody (the units were numbered 9077 and 9078). The Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe Railway was immediately pleased with the new model and ordered 28 PA-1s and 16 PB-1s between September, 1946 and December 1948. Other railroads soon followed and Alco would eventually sell 170 total PA-1s and PB-1s.

However, it was to no avail and after initially making 170 sales with its first PA-1 design; later PA-2 and PA-3 upgraded models sold a combined total of 77 units by the time production had officially ended on the model in December, 1953. These numbers were a mere fraction when compared to EMD's E and F series, which together sold thousands of units by the time the models ended production in the 1950s and 1960s.

While Alco’s PA was unpopular with most freight railroads it gained instant celebrity status with the railfan community and those historians who study diesel locomotive designs, which has only grown over the years. One reason for the model’s popularity, besides its good looks was for the fact that after the last Alco PA ended its career with the Delaware & Hudson Railroad (whose PAs were originally purchased and owned by the Santa Fe) in 1978 and left for Mexico, none remained on U.S. soil for nearly 25 years until two PAs made their way back in 2002 (the very two which the D&H had sold to Mexico); one to the Smithsonian for restoration and the other to renowned locomotive restorer Doyle McCormick which is nearing its complete operational restoration into Nickel Plate Road #190 adorned in the NKP's "Bluebird" passenger livery.

The restoration of NKP #190 (originally AT&SF #62-L) is a near miracle for a few reasons. The first is that it took several years just to negotiate the locomotives’ return to the United States, even though by this time they were literally nothing more than shells, completely stripped of cab, prime mover, trucks and all gearing. The second is the fact that Doyle and his team were even able to restore a locomotive from the shell up using nothing more than hard work and their own resources. While #190 does not have all original PA equipment since much no longer exists, many parts of Alco origin were located (such as the trucks) and now the locomotive is nearing completion after more than six years of restoration.

The Smithsonian's Alco PA, former AT&SF #59-L, has been donated to the Museum of the American Railroad in Texas. The goal now of the museum is to fully, cosmetically restore the locomotive (currently only an empty shell) back into its original AT&SF "Warbonnet" livery as #59-L. Later restoration efforts may also completely return the locomotive to operational status. Like a lot of folks, I have always had a soft spot for Alcos, especially their PA, so it will be great to see #190 and #59-L roll out of the shop for the final time either under its own power ready to once again haul passengers or at least cosmetically restored and on display. In any event, more information about the PA series can be found below. To learn more about the history of the Alco Pa please click here.

Finally, while not listed below, there was also the Alco PA-4 model. This was simply a rebuild (by Morrison-Knudsen) of four former AT&SF PA-1s, all of which went to the Delaware & Hudson Railway in the 1970s. They were renumbered 16-18 and retrofitted with Alco's much more reliable model 251 prime mover. They paraded around the D&H system for years before being sold to a Mexican railway and are the two that returned to the States in the early 2000s.

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The Alco PA Series

Also consider Mike Schafer's Vintage Diesel Locomotives which looks at virtually all of the classic builders and models from Alco PAs to early EMD Geeps. If you’re interested in classic Alcos, or diesel locomotives in general, this book gives an excellent general history of both. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing either (or both) of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.

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