ALCO FA

A MLW FPA-4 of the Canadian National Railway in September 1965

Three different models were offered. The FA-1/FB-1, which featured a 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) rating, was built from January 1946 to October 1950, with a 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) version produced between March and August 1950 (many early models were subsequently upgraded to 1,600 hp). The 1,600 hp (1,200 kW) FA-2/FB-2 (along with the FPA-2/FPB-2 variants) was built between October 1950 and June 1956. Finally, the 1,800 hp (1,300 kW) FPA-4/FPB-4, powered by the 251 V-12 engine, was built between October 1958 and May 1959 by ALCO's Canadian subsidiary, Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW).

The FAs, as well as their cousins, the ALCO PAs, were born as a result of ALCO's development of a new diesel engine design, the Model 244. In early 1944, development started on the new design, and by November 1945, the first engines were beginning to undergo tests. This unusually short testing sequence was brought about by the decision of ALCO's senior management that the engine and an associated line of road locomotives had to be introduced no later than the end of 1946.

In preparation for this deadline, by January 1946, the first four locomotives with the 244 engines had been built. Two FA-1s and an FB-1 were painted in ALCO Demonstrator colors and were released for road tests for a month and a half on the Delaware and Hudson Railway.

A strike at ALCO delayed production beyond the first four units and the three demonstrator units began working on the Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad in mid February 1946. The demonstrators were returned to Schenectady when the remainder of the order began delivery in May 1946.

The GM&O order was completed in April 1947 for a total of 80 units. Before the end of this production run, ALCO upgraded the generators and traction motors in the locomotives, with the first of these models entering service in February 1947 for the New York Central.

In 1950, the Montreal Locomotive Works, an affiliate of ALCO, began production of FAs as well. In the Fall of 1950, an upgraded model, the FA-2, was launched. This model featured an uprated Model 244 engine, with an output of 1600 horsepower. Additionally, the carbody was lengthened, making possible the addition of a steam generator in the A unit to allow for use in passenger service. Models equipped as such were designated the FPA-2/FPB-2.[1]

The first FA-2s were delivered in October 1950 to the Baltimore and Ohio and the Erie.[2] By this time, however, the cab unit had fallen out of favor due to the greater versatility of road switchers, and US production of the FA line ended in 1956, with Canadian production ending in 1959.[1]

From the 1970s until 1999, the MTA Long Island Rail Road used 20 FA units converted into "power packs". The traction motors were removed, and original prime movers replaced with 600 horsepower (450 kW) engines/generators solely for supplying HEP. The engineer's control stand was left intact, allowing the engines to be used in push-pull service with other locomotives, which usually lacked HEP. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, the railroad began retiring the ALCOs in favor of new bi-level cab cars and locomotives with HEP installed.

A pair of MLW FPA-4s on the Napa Valley Wine Train

Some 20 units of various designations exist today in a preserved state.[3] Several excursion railways own operating examples which are in regular service, including MLW units received from Via Rail Canada.

• The Grand Canyon Railway owns 3 FPA-4s, and two FB-1s.[4]
• The Napa Valley Wine Train owns 4 FPA-4s.
• The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad in Peninsula, Ohio, owns four FPA-4s, of which three are in operation as of 2008.
• The New York and Lake Erie Railroad owns one FPA-2 and one FPA-4.

Locomotives not sold to tourist railroads have been sold to museums and other owners.

• The Illinois Railway Museum owns former Louisville & Nashville FA-1 #314.
• The Western Maryland Railway Historical Society owns former Western Maryland FA-2 #302.
• The Railroad Museum of New England owns former New York, New Haven, & Hartford FA-1 #0401.
• A private group in Buffalo, New York owns a former New York Central FA-1, #1102.
• Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway FA-1 #866 is undergoing restoration by a private owner in Portland, Oregon.
• Spokane Portland & Seattle FB-1 868B is owned by a private owner in NJ.
• The Canadian Railway Museum in Delson, Quebec owns CN FPA-4 #6765 and CN FA-1 #9400.
• The Danbury Railway Museum owns an FPA-4 and FPB-4, which were last used in revenue service on the New York Central Railroad. They have been restored as Canadian National FPA-4 6786 and FPB-4 #6867. Also at the Danbury Railway Museum is ex-New Haven FA-1 0428.
• The Monticello Railway Museum owns CN 6789, an MLW FPA-4, and CNR 6862, an MLW FPB-4. CN 6789 was into operating condition, and is used on museum trains. Both have been repainted into the green/yellow scheme that CN used early on.
• Canadian Pacific FA-2 4090 and FB-2 4469 survive as static displays at the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel.
• The Anthracite Historical Society owns former Louisville & Nashville FA-1 #315.
• Western Maryland FA-2 #303 is stored in Barton, MD on the Georges Creek Railway.
• Canadian National 6854 is owned by a private owner in Bridgeton, NJ.
• Canadian National 6783 is reportedly stored in Scranton, PA

Alco built 23 A1A-A1A trucked FCA-3s for Pakistan Railways in 1951 and 1953. These were the equivalent of an FPA-2 riding on A1A trucks. ALCO's "World Locomotive", the DL500 (introduced in 1953), originated as a newly designed demonstrator based on the FA-2. The first 25 DL500s used the model 244 engine rated at 1,600 horsepower (1,200 kW). Later DL500s were like the FPA-4 and utilize the ALCO model 251B diesel engine as the prime mover and are rated at 1,800 horsepower (1,300 kW). All DL500s were built with C-C trucks, but B-B or paired A-1-A trucks were offered as an option. The only locale within the Americas where ALCO-built cab units, such as All America Latina Logistica (ALL), still see daily usage in freight duty is Argentina. A total of 369 DL500 locomotives were built by ALCO, AE Goodwin, and MLW between May 1953 and December 1967.

A February 2014 episode of the TV series The Big Bang Theory, "The Locomotive Manipulation", takes place on a train pulled by what is incorrectly described as an "Alcoa FA-4".

• List of ALCO diesel locomotives
• List of MLW diesel locomotives

Wikimedia Commons has media related to ALCO FA locomotives.

• Alco FA-1/FB-1 Roster
• Alco FA-2/FB-2 Roster
• Alco FCA-3 Roster
• MLW FPA & FPB Roster
• Preserved Alco Cab Units
• New York Central ALCO FA-2 #1102 — documents the restoration efforts of the Western New York Railway Historical Society.
• Project 302 — documents the restoration efforts of the Western Maryland Railway Historical Society regarding Western Maryland Railway No. 302, an ALCO Model FA-2.