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ALCO RS-1

🇨🇦 Canada ·built by American Locomotive Company· from 1941· Trend-setting Road Switcher Locomotive

🛤️ diesel locomotive diesel
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. SARM5310: Wikimedia Commons· Attribution
  2. 2. ALCO RS1 292 CYXX Orlando FL: Meloaraujo· CC BY-SA 4.0
  3. 3. ALCO RS1 CBTU 7038: Sydney S. Correa· CC BY 3.0
  4. 4. DSSA RS-1: Jerry Huddleston· CC BY 2.0
  5. 5. The Bay Line 904 (Alco RS1): Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D.· CC0
  6. 6. The SOO Line Depot and RS1 2363 was captured by Roger Puta in Neenah, WI in September of 1963 (25083830013): railfan 44· Public domain
  7. 7. ALCo RS-1 - EFCB-RFFSA-Mangueira-Rio (1963): Assessoria de Comunicação da Rede Ferroviária Federal S/A· Public domain
  8. 8. Algers, Winslow, and Western (IRM) No. 4 (ALCO RS-1) at Gradman, Indiana, United States: Wccrupper· CC BY-SA 4.0
  9. 9. ESPN RS-1 57 and B23-7 3153 Quakertown: Adam Moss from Highland Park, NJ, United States· CC BY-SA 2.0
  10. 10. Tennessee Valley Alco RS1 -8677 - 10567579366: Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D.· CC0
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
ALCO RS-1, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Wikimedia Commons· Attribution

what is it?

The ALCO RS-1 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by Alco-GE between 1941 and 1953 and the American Locomotive Company from 1953 to 1960. ALCO subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works built an additional three RS-1s in 1954. This model has the distinction of having the longest production run of any diesel locomotive for the North American market.

base stats

  • speed 105 km/htop speed
  • power 746 kWpower output
  • weight 112 tin working order
  • built 469made in total

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 85 years ago, in 1941.
  • 746 kW is about 9 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
  • Weighs about as much as 19 African elephants (~6 t each).
  • 16.8 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.

diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).

spec sheet

built
1941–1960
number built
469
kind
Diesel-electric
traction
diesel
origin
🇨🇦 Canada
builders
American Locomotive Company, Montreal Locomotive Works
top speed
105 km/h
power
746 kW
gauge
1,435 mm standard gauge
wheel arrangement
B-B
length
16.8 m
weight
112 t

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q432673, Wikipedia: ALCO RS-1 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.

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