Many of those Alco's were built a few miles from where I grew up. Did get a tour of the place sometime in the 1970's before they closed it down. Unfortunately they did not have any running on the test stand the night I was there.That sound is really great. Next to an old Alco, it is best locomotive engine I have heard, I believe.
Jeff
I worked at a job site for a time that had several Tugs and AHTS in the area. 16 and 20 cyl EMDs common at the time. One large tug had a pair of 18 cyl Alcos, start ups were noteworthy! Large engine sounds were part of the day, Alcos had a great sound all their own.Many of those Alco's were built a few miles from where I grew up. Did get a tour of the place sometime in the 1970's before they closed it down. Unfortunately they did not have any running on the test stand the night I was there.
I worked on Alco’s for over 20yrs, I hated the 244’s as they were labour intensive, 251 were the best 6,v8,12,16, did them all, load tested them also, it was a thrill to load test a 3600hp loco, turbo exhaust inlet would be a cherry red glow, set firing pressures by setting individual fuel racks lots of fun at full load, I wonder why I have tinnitus lolMany of those Alco's were built a few miles from where I grew up. Did get a tour of the place sometime in the 1970's before they closed it down. Unfortunately they did not have any running on the test stand the night I was there.
If the size doesn't make you cringe you should see the shoddy work done on them especially the ones owned by the natives. Makes you wonder how they even get out of the harbor. Nothing done to USCG standards or even ABYC codes for that matter, as redundancy bilge pumps, yeah that ain't happening and if so I doubt they would function when the time came.My time at sea was pretty lucky being in the navy. I've looked at a couple of fishing boats that just made me cringe to think anyone went out on the ocean in them.
I saw one at Coronado. Our Unit was there for a Training course, Amphib school.They ran the Napier’s in the river boats in Vietnam. I was taking a school at the Little Creek Amphib base in Virginia in 1976. I was walking around the base and came by a fenced in area and there were four of those engines with five or six of those boats. I asked one of the older guys about them. He said the ran huge horsepower and there were two per boat. These boats and engines came out of country just before the fall and had sat there ever since.
The Company I worked for a time in the '90s, (I believe still have), 2 large Tugs with Alcos. V-16s if I recall.EMDs in most of the larger tows on the Mississippi, a few had Alcos but a LIMITED Few, could always tell as one crawled up current against the governors. Smaller machines had Detroit Diesels. Is still Alco train engine loving company the Arkansas Missouri Rail Line where they are now upgrading and reducing their use.
Side note, the Company I am driving for has a sister company, the Hermann Sand and Gravel company, the larger tow they own had a Catastrophic Engine failure and fire in ST Louis three days ago. 3600hp EMD power.
St. Louis Firefighters Fight Fire On Tugboat - UPI.com
I posted a Waukesha on #33.
I have found an interesting book on the 251, written by a person who knows the series.I worked on Alco’s for over 20yrs, I hated the 244’s as they were labour intensive, 251 were the best 6,v8,12,16, did them all, load tested them also, it was a thrill to load test a 3600hp loco, turbo exhaust inlet would be a cherry red glow, set firing pressures by setting individual fuel racks lots of fun at full load, I wonder why I have tinnitus lol
Interesting.I posted a Waukesha on #33.
That was one of the pair from the '60s in a diesel electric Navy derrick. It made 250 volt DC, 315 horsepower at 720 RPMs.Interesting.
The only Waukesha I think I recall ever being around was in a P+H crane ( flat windshield!), may have been late '40s/early '50s vintage, that my father had, in mid-late 60's. 4 cyl slow turning engine running on gasoline. Engine fairly large in size. Seem to recall it being capable of being converted to diesel? I never ran the machine.