#3754
ALCO DH643
🇺🇸 United States ·built by American Locomotive Company· from 1964· locomotive class
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Southern Pacific -9152: The original uploader was Can't Undo at English Wikipedia .· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The ALCO C-643DH, also known as the Century 643DH, was a twin-engine diesel-hydraulic locomotive, the first diesel-hydraulic road switcher built in the United States. It had a C-C wheel arrangement and generated 4,300 horsepower (3,200 kW). Only three were built, all for Southern Pacific Railroad in 1964 (#9018–#9020).
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 62 years ago, in 1964.
- 3.2 MW is about 38 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 29 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 22.9 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1964
- retired
- 1973
- status
- retired
- number built
- 3
- kind
- Diesel-hydraulic
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- American Locomotive Company
- operators
- Southern Pacific Transportation Company
- top speed
- 124 km/h
- power
- 3.2 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- C′C′
- length
- 22.9 m
- weight
- 172 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q294367, Wikipedia: ALCO DH643 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.