| American Locomotive Company |
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Information AboutAmerican Locomotive Company |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE COMPANY | |
| companies established in 1901 | |
| defunct companies of the united states | |
| locomotive manufacturers | |
| defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the united states | |
| schenectady, new york | |
The American Locomotive Company, often shortened to '''ALCO''' or '''Alco''' (or less frequently '''ALCo'''), was a builder of Railroad Locomotive s in the United States . EARLY HISTORY The company was created in 1901 from the merger of several smaller locomotive manufacturers:
The new company was headquartered in Schenectady and eventually closed all other locomotive manufacturing plants. 1904 saw the purchase of the Locomotive and Machine Company of Montreal , Canada; this company was eventually renamed the Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) and continued to manufacture Alco designs after the parent company ceased production. The next year, 1905 , Alco purchased Rogers Locomotive Works of Paterson, New Jersey , the second largest locomotive manufacturer in the US behind Baldwin Locomotive Works . STEAM LOCOMOTIVES ALCO locomotive built for the WDLR ]] Alco was the second-largest steam locomotive builder in the United States, producing over 75,000 locomotives. Among these were a large number of well-known locomotives. Railroads that favored Alco products included the Delaware And Hudson Railroad , the New York Central Railroad , the Union Pacific and the Southern Pacific . Alco was known for its steam locomotives of which the 4-6-4 Hudson and the 4-8-4 Niagara built for the New York Central and the 4-6-6-4 (Challenger) built for the Union Pacific Railroad were fine examples. Alco built many of the biggest locomotives ever constructed, including Union Pacific's ''Big Boy'' ( 4-8-8-4 ). Alco also built the first steam locomotive in , a 4-8-4 commissioned in 1930 by Timken Roller Bearing Company was used for 100,000 Mile s (161,000 Km ) on fifteen major United States railroads before it was purchased in 1933 by Northern Pacific Railroad . Though the dual-service 4-8-4 steam locomotive had shown great promise, 1948 saw the last steam locomotives erected in Schenectady. These were the 9400-series Pittsburgh And Lake Erie Railroad 2-8-4 "Berkshires". ALCO AUTOMOBILES The company diversified into the Automobile business in 1906 , producing French Berliet designs under license. Production was located at ALCO's Rhode Island Locomotive Works in Providence , Rhode Island . Two years later, the Berliet license was abandoned, and the company began to produce its own designs instead. Alco cars won the Vanderbilt Cup in both 1909 and 1910 and also competed in the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race in 1911 , but they had less success in sales, abandoning automobile manufacture in 1913 . The Alco automobile story is chiefly notable for starting the automobile career of Walter P. Chrysler , the plant manager, who left for Buick in 1911 and subsequently founded the Chrysler automobile giant. |
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