#3268
ALCO RSD-15
🇺🇸 United States ·built by American Locomotive Company· from 1956· model of American 6-axle diesel electric locomotives
3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. GBW 2407 at IRM: Sean Lamb ( User:Slambo )· CC BY-SA 2.5
- 2. RSD-15 Austin 442-1: Rvassar· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. RSD-15 Austin 442-2: Rvassar· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The ALCO RSD-15 is a diesel-electric locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York between August 1956 and June 1960, during which time 75 locomotives were produced. The RSD-15 was powered by an ALCO 251 16-cylinder four-cycle V-type prime mover rated at 2,400 horsepower (1.79 MW); it superseded the almost identical ALCO 244-engined RSD-7, and was catalogued alongside the similar but smaller 1,800 hp (1.34 MW) RSD-12, powered by a 12-cylinder 251-model V-type diesel engine. The locomotive rode on a pair of three-axle Trimount trucks with all axles powered by General Electric model 752 traction motors.
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 70 years ago, in 1956.
- 1.8 MW is about 21 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 25 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 20.1 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
- 1956–1960
- in service from
- 1956
- number built
- 75
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- American Locomotive Company
- operators
- Pennsylvania Railroad, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway, St. Louis Southwestern Railway, Southern Pacific Transportation Company
- top speed
- 105 km/h
- power
- 1.8 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Co′Co′
- length
- 20.1 m
- weight
- 152 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4032931, Wikipedia: ALCO RSD-15 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.