Australian Alco's

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About Australian Alco's

Alco (the American Locomotive Company) has been a stalwart of the Australian rail scene since the 1940's and even though Alco has now disappeared from the manufacturing scene (it's currently dominated by GE and EMD), Alco still exists and is currently owned by Fairbanks-Morse (since 1994).

For a time White Industries apparently owned the patents. Perhaps FM bought White Industries? I'm not actually sure about that.

In any case, FM still makes brand new Alco engines and parts to order, and the 251 series engine has advanced to the F series which is much more fuel-efficient than the 251-B and 251-C engines which are the most common in Australian locos built around Alco's engines.

So even though Australian rail companies (most notably PN and GWA) steadfastly refuse to admit that Alco-based locomotives can still be viable in today's modern, environmentally-conscious rail transport scene, FM's enthusiastic endorsement and support of the 251 engine range shows that the Australian operator resistance to modern Alco refinements is very narrow-minded.

Please feel free to submit any pictures of Alco-based locomotives anywhere in Australia.