#3142
ALCO S-5
🇺🇸 United States ·built by American Locomotive Company· from 1954· and American diesel switching (shunting) locomotive
3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. B&M 864 in North Station yards, September 1965: Roger Puta· Public domain
- 2. Boston & Maine No. 864 at the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum - March 2024: Kevin Prince· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 3. New Jersey, Indiana & Illinois No. 2 at the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum - March 2024 - 02: Kevin Prince· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The Alco S-5 (DL 421A) was a diesel-electric switcher locomotive rated at 800 horsepower (600 kW), that rode on two-axle trucks, having a B-B wheel arrangement. This was Alco's second attempt to build a replacement 251-engined switcher to replace the 539-engined S-3 and S-4. Only seven were sold.
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 72 years ago, in 1954.
- 597 kW is about 7 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1954
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 7
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- American Locomotive Company
- operators
- Boston and Maine Railroad, American Locomotive Company
- top speed
- —
- power
- 597 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- B-B
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4652298, Wikipedia: ALCO S-5 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.