Railroad History

Passenger and Commuter Rail

Railroading Today

Rolling Stock

Infrastructure and Terms

Museums and Tourism

Miscellaneous

About The Site

[?] Subscribe To American-Rails.com

The Lehigh Valley Diesel Locomotive Roster

The Lehigh Valley diesel locomotive roster was as varied as its paint schemes with units from EMD, GE, Alco, Baldwin, and more. For a complete/all-time Lehigh Valley diesel locomotive roster please click here. This list of surviving LV diesel locomotives will be categorized by original numbers the railroad assigned its units and where they are today, whether in operation, cosmetically restored, or in some state of preservation at railroad museums and tourist railroads. Also, just as something to keep in mind if you are not aware, while some locomotives may be painted/preserved in LV colors this does not necessarily mean that they are of LV heritage (and likewise, some locomotives may be of LV heritage that are not in LV colors).

American Locomotive Company (Alco)

· Alco S-2 #150: Survives but in poor condition in Calla, Kentucky.

· Alco S-2 #151: Stored in Eden, New York.

· Alco S-2 #165: In operation on shortline Buffalo Southern Railroad.

· Alco S-4 #166: In operation on shortline Michigan Southern.

· Alco RS3 #211: In operation and preserved on the Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum as LV #211.

· Alco C420 #408: Preserved by the Southern Applachia Railway Museum as Vintage Locomotives Inc. (VILX) #2064.

· Alco C420 #414: In operation on shortline Southern Railway of New Jersey as LV #414.

Other surviving LV Alcos on industrials or shortlines. Of note is the Arkansas & Missouri shortline which operates five former LV C420s.

Electro-Motive Division (EMD)

Many of LV's line of switchers, which include SW-1s, SW900ms, SW8s, and SW9s, remain in operation on shortlines. Many of its stock of GP38s and GP38ACs remain in operation on successor Class Is, Norfolk Southern and Canadian Pacific.

General Electric (GE)

The LV's only GE road power were U23Bs of which #502, #503, #508-511 remain in operation in industrial operations (save for #511 which is out of service).

The LV's Alcos mentioned above are currently the only "truly" preserved diesels of the railroad. Most of those which remain, as again mentioned above, are in some state of operation on shortlines or in industrial operations (although not all). For a complete list of surviving Lehigh Valley diesel locomotives and their dispositions please click here to visit Scot Lawrence's LV website. Very detailed and with lots of information, it contains about everything you would like to know on both remaining and long since scrapped LV diesel locomotives.

While this list will continually be updated it certainly does not completely cover every surviving unit, which was on the Lehigh Valley diesel locomotive roster. So, if you know of any other survivors out there, whether they are parked and gleaming in a museum or sitting out in the weeds along a forgotten siding please let me know so we can keep this list growing, and you will be given full credit for your help.

For more information on the all types of classic diesel locomotives 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 FMs, or diesels in general, this book gives an excellent general history of both.

You may also want to consider the book Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive by author J. Parker Lamb. As the title implies the book looks at the history and development of the diesel locomotives, covering 200 pages, from its earliest beginnings to the newest designs and models operated today. 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.

footer for lehigh valley diesel locomotive roster page