Great sounding ALCO S-2 on the MD&W

[dbkmn439]

I used to run those old Alco,s as a fireman on the Santa Fe L.A. Coast Lines div. In Los Angeles and San Bernardino. 1959 - 1964. Also at Kaiser Steel in Fontana, that sound brings back many good memories, they were good switchers. Wished I could throw some cars around with one in a switchyard again. I became an electrician at Kaiser Steel and ended up in charge of electrical maint on them.

[jiggy588]

Sweet

[inels100]

wheres the horn sound at?

[inels100]

Is there any Wig-wags in this video?

[ghfakar]

I keep trying to tell the Tsunami fans (model railroading) that it STILL doesn't sound real. Only a 1/1 sounds real! No one will EVER make a 1" speaker put out sound like this! GREAT! Wish my pickup sounded like that!

[Gordontrek]

LOOOOVE this engine I often do work at my local railroad museum and they run one of these it's AWESOME

[gypsyball]

Did any of them come from the Northern Pacific? They used them here in Fargo, ND. Think the BN used them in their very early years as well. I got a book with photos of them here in Fargo and one of the dates maybe from 1970.

[vellieux]

Im from International Falls, MN and would sit and watch these S-2s run back and forth when i was a kid. Also my step dad worked on the MD&W and my uncle worked there back in the 60's and 70's

[fredstuckmann]

Worked with S2s for years, they were worth every penny the Erie and DL&W paid for them. Thanks Jack.

[sidney001]

sure do sound nice, thanks for posting

[penguinmaster7]

those brakes at the end broke my headphones O.O

[tommie022481]

Have you seen the new MP15's they have at the yard now? Still see one of the Alco's sometimes.

[paulinhohawai]

que pais é ese

[mngrr]

sounds like an S-4. I didn't know there were any turbo charged S-2's.

[1jackdk]

@mngrr All five of their units are S-2's from various railroads. They are deffinetly turbo charged, so they must have went threw a rebuilding process. The blunt trucks are a dead give away. Check out the site, .the diesel shop. us/MDW.HTML Thanks for watching...

[sp4294]

@mngrr S2's and S4's both have 539T engines, the "T" stands for the fact that they are turbo charged. The only real difference between an S2 and S4 is that an S2 has the Blunt trucks and the S4 has AAR switcher trucks. The differences between an S1 and S3 are the same except there is no turbo charger on those.

[ketd9]

man they sure sound great

[FuelThumper]

Great sound from the S2. The old FJ&G railroad in my town once had 2 of these that they ran for decades replacing their steam engines. There is some vintage footage of them running if you do a search. Unfortunately I was too young to remember them running but I do appreciate this video!

[thomasmason417]

What does ND&W stand for and where is it

[1jackdk]

@thomasmason417 Its MD&W. for,  Minnesota, Dakota & Western . Thanks for watching...

[Weatherbyrd]

I love the sound when it this beast accelerates. I grew up on a T&NO railroad line where these were the workhorses on light rail. What is also music to my ears is simply the idle of the ALCO S2. Most engines had horns, but one had an air whisle...beautiful sound. Thanks so much for sharing.

[randommagnum]

1:54 onward... PAIN.

[spils101]

english electric motor?

[fafnir242]

One person prefers Baldwin.lol Absolutely gorgeous locomotive. Still sounds awesome!

[megatwingo]

Very nice video. A lovely loco and fat diesel sound. Thumbs up from Germany! :)

[1jackdk]

@megatwingo Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it. Those 60 year old + gals sure do sound and look good. Thanks for watching, and take care...

[scriltist]

The turbo sound is similar to the UK class 20, except they have a V8 power unit.

[DrAlco]

Great sound. It so great to hear this engine... Do you know, when they still operate this ALCO's here in 2010 ?. This is a great film, and i would wish we have them here in Denmark.

[BobbyTM10]

Awesome !!! Favorites.

[mikeshemi72]

sounds like a truck

[wolfdog2001]

my wife seen this clip and said it looks so new that it resembles a toy . I grew up in Fort Frances and remember that sound all hours of night and day.

[rbfishcss]

Excellent video, I love the alcos!

[tartopfan]

I think that alco is fore sale is it?

[1225dude]

Journal Bearings?  On an interchange railroad? I thought that was illegal.

[SteyrM1912]

@1225dude: They're probably roller bearing equipped, it's just the trucks still retain their old journal boxes.

[1225dude]

ok that makes sense

[voiceonthehill]

I lived in a town that had a beltline RR that ran an ALCO S-2. The crew used to let me ride along with them at nights after I did my homework--it was all local industry switching. I loved it.

These engines sound and pull great!

[DX721]

I love old switchers, I always tend to have quite a few on my layouts. What is the advantage if any to remote control locomotives?

[NathansBackwoods]

@DX721, as in DCC for scale locomotives? Is that what your asking? If you are, you can control multipul locomotives on the same track.

[DX721]

I am assuming the locomotive in the video is remote control, i was asking about the full size remote control loco's, it seems it take the same amount of men to do the switching duties.

I know about DCC and DCS and TMCC, I use them on my layouts, sorry about the confusion, lol

[nikosjk1]

Great video! Love that sound, crisp transition from idle to power, alot like some UK diesels, I wonder if they borrowed on Alco designs.

[1jackdk]

They where operating the train with a two man crew in the USA everytime I have been there. The first clip shows the train coming in from just crossing the border out of Canada. Maybe they operate with a belt pack over there. Thanks for watching.

[enr3870]

It's fine, as long as someone is on the engine to protect the point.

[omegaroad]

thats a crisp sounding tubro pure music

[GhostFearMe]

pure music!

[airman004]

great video!  I like old engines still in use. It's cool to see the cloud of smoke come out of the smokestack, when you rev up the engine on those. There's an old alco s2 on display in Maywood, NJ. doesn't run anymore, too bad. It'd be nice to see it running just like those engines.

[RichardSwayne]

My Lordz!

[PeavineRailfanner]

I recorded right by that spot!

[vellieux]

Xcellent video, im from Int'l Falls, MN, my step dad worked on the MD&W back in the day, i live in Alaska now

[1jackdk]

At least you are consistant!!! You picked to of the coldest places in the US to live. LOL. Thanks for looking. Take care, Jack

[tpvalley]

Do the drivers have to show their passports every time they cross the border then?

[38Squid]

OH the wonderful sound! The Bethlem Steel plant in Lackawanna, NY used to have a large fleet of these things. I got to hear them day and night while growning up pulling heavy trains around.

[ble643]

are they remote contral I jest what to know

[87STEELE]

Cool video. Love the paint scheme. 5*.

[ziuru1miechow]

Super filmik!5*!

[2GUNBOY]

Does that S2 have a notch-less throttle?

[1jackdk]

No, they don't. Thanks for watching. Jackmp294

[wisdomstar1981]

very nice

[toinze69]

beautiful loco congratulations

[AndreiTupolev]

What a lovely crisp turbo sound.

[wayray69]

Great video of classic Alco working hard.

[kathump2]

No horn??

[bnsffreighttrain]

Nice video.. Thanks, always nice seeing the old Alco's still in use..

[stakeee]

what does alco mean?

[FGLK1702]

American Locomotive Co.