Alco Action (!) - - -Alco fans. turn the volume UP

Over 50 years old, the former NSWGR 44 class are still working hard powering a shuttle service between Harefield and Junee in NSW Australia. Younger sister 8044 assists. The unusual Alco exhaust beat features prominently in this movie.

[@jayswarrow1196]

Such as with sea breeze, and rhytmic sound of waves, coming down on a beach, there's something romantic about an old engine on a tickover.

[@TrainTrackTrav]

Let's see here - Particle emissions filter: No. Micro processor: No. Computerized AC traction motor wheel slip control: No. Exhaust silencer: No. These are real locomotives doing real work. The way it should be. You Aussie railfans are friggin' blessed! Thanks for sharing. Best wishes from the States!

[@FrostyAUT]

I don't see how more modern locomotives that use advanced technology to haul cargo more economically are any less real - but whatever floats your boat, man.

[@rockguitarist931]

​@@FrostyAUT It's not that modern locomotives are less real, it's that Class 1 American railroads would never ever consider keeping vintage diesels on the active roster for revenue freight trains and seeing 60-year-old motive power "in the wild" is getting harder and harder as the years go by. They barely keep 20-year-old locomotives on their active rosters. You have to understand something about America: accountants in this country would gladly nail Jesus to the cross if it meant saving a dollar. I've been watching a lot of videos of vintage Aussie diesels and I came across a few about "the great ALCo extinction of 1994" when many Class 44's were scrapped. Imagine that happening on a regular, almost scheduled, basis with American railroads, making it increasingly difficult to photograph/film older units that have a greater aesthetic appeal over new engines. Large railroads are almost eager to torch old equipment so they can buy the newer engines that require less maintenance, which means more profits at the end of the fiscal quarter. Preservation of vintage railway equipment has fallen mainly upon the shoulders of individuals and smaller, privately owned lines. And most of the time this doesn't guarantee that old equipment will be restored and preserved, museums rely mostly on donations to restore equipment and keep it within the US Government's stringent operating specs. And I would also like to say that modern diesels are far less satisfying to see in action because of how efficient they are. It's the imperfections that make vintage diesels perfect for photography. I'll put it this way: would you rather go pub-crawling with a straight A student who has to go to bed early because he has a test in the morning, or with the guy who listens to music too loudly in his car? Sorry if that was long-winded, but I feel very passionately about preserving the heritage of railroading in America because it used to be a very colorful industry, and it's been a very drastic decent into the modern setting which is completely boring compared to where we came from in the 20th century.

[@Storm-ug1xt]

@@rockguitarist931 Honestly I think the only thing stopping the same from happening in Australia is the fact that compared to the states, the railroad industry is tiny and the cost of replacing equipment is high for a few reasons. So the saying "why fix it if it ain't broke" rings true and therefore tend to still have these old girls still working hard although admittedly only on light duties as this video. No sane person would put this on the longhaul lines. Although I think times are changing with Chinese built locos beginning to appear.

[@russellgxy2905]

@@Storm-ug1xt Chinese built? That just sounds wrong, the country is more likely to get more American exports. Sure GE and EMD aren't in the loco business in the same way they used to be, but they have successors Though this honestly explains a lot about why a lot of Australia's railroads still have, what are essentially, first-generation diesels working regular trains. I'm not quite with the notion that upgrades like microprocessors and AC traction make newer locomotives any less real, I'm always in awe of how smaller railroads keep old power in regular service like this

[@Storm-ug1xt]

@@russellgxy2905 Yeah most of the newer locomotives are either locally built still and most recently Chinese imports. Aparently they designed a loco just for the Australian market. American locomotives are rather rare here, mainly because the axle load is too high for our tracks. But some newer ones are isolated to private mining tracks in Western Australia where they are also often automated and driven from a control centre. I'm not 100% sure but it seems they like to still use these older engines moving cars on the branch lines. It's highly unusual to see them. I've only ever seen ones this old maybe twice. Almost all the time I just see the normal pair of NR class's or sometimes one of the 81/82/90/93 class's in tandem with some random smaller older engine in the middle. The line I live on we get about 2 trains a day and it's almost always mostly made up of NR class locos. They still sound and look pretty cool to me though.

[@snesman3768]

Beautiful machines! Makes me wish we had ALCO locos in the UK. The sound reminds me of our English Electric Class 37's but with a bit of Sulzer rattle mixed in. I'd love to see one in the flesh some day. Great Video!

[@Greatdome99]

Fairbanks-Morse still sells 251s, and the giant, tracked Space Shuttle launch vehicle platform is powered by a pair of 251s.

[@Match2100]

Excellent content, no shitty music or stupid intro/outro, clear and informative captions instead of narration and great audio quality. This is what people should aspire to (looking at you, young Victorain gunzels) when making railway vids

[@RailPreserver2K]

I'm glad you guys over there keep the vintage diesels running proper, hopefully they'll all be preserved

[@rearspeaker6364]

TO EACH THEIR OWN!!!!

[@justanothergermantankie9142]

Here in argentina they are very common

[@larsjuhlin6907]

Awesome video, love the sound of a Mk1 44 class alco (4458) with its unsettled governed cranky chanting idle, shame there's not many left, could listen to it all day,👍

[@MrBnsftrain]

Amazing that 1960s ALCOs are still at work in regular freight service down under. By the 1980s, ALCO was long gone but their prime movers were still being made licensees couch as Comeng in Australia, DLW in India, and Bombardier in Canada.

[@railbuddy8372]

awesome to see trains are standing side by side...great place to do railfanning...back and forth movement..great capture

[@robinroberts3335]

Fantastic love it . Robin from 🇨🇦

[@mta224]

Nice-the smoke and that sound are the same even in this hemisphere!!!!!

[@sammitra1973]

DL 500 was the first Alco Locomotive in India.. named WDM1..Phased out from service in 1995

[@ergotot45]

Very nice, makes up for fact that the day I went there the 44s were on maintenance! Have to return in Feb 2018 to have another go

[@normansilver905]

The 44 class locomotives literally worked their way into Australian railroad history

[@strobx1]

Nice Video. I am a chronic ALCOholic. The Cab units are what happens when a PA mates with an FA= FA with 6 wheel trucks! Are they A1A or CC? The Grand Trunk Western use to keep 3 Alco S3 Shunters(Switchers) at Muskegon (Mich) Yard Center Henry Street Yard. I enjoyed hearing the governor kick in & out at idle giving that uneven idle. I remember the cab windows & hood doors vibrating. From my understanding, Fairbanks Morse took over ALCO. They produce the 251 or upgrade engines and serve as a source for parts. The GTW experimented with repowering the S3 with Cat Engines. Don't know what happened to them.

[@imacgra1]

they're CC (6 traction motors) We did have a class of 20 RSC-3 ish locos (our 40 class) built at MLW in 1951, but they went in the late 1960s, even before the end of steam (1973). They were A1A = lots of wheelslip on our steep mainlines (1 in 40 or steeper) = early withdrawal.

[@blackbirdgaming8147]

strobx1 Fairbanks Morse didn’t take over ALCO, but they did purchase the rights to manufacture the 251 engine, which they still do. ALCO ceased to exist, which left MLW, and MLW was later purchased by Bombardier. That’s why the VIA Rail LRCs had 251s. Eventually, even Bombardier gave up on MLW, and ALCO died completely. It’s really too bad MLW died off. I truly think they were on to something with the 18 cylinder 251. I believe it was the 18-251F. It makes 4000 hp and was used in the MLW M640. I’m sure if MLW had better means they would have struck gold with the M640 and possible future iterations.

[@jonschuster1029]

Really nice video. Used to cross from the USA to Sarnia ONT in the 80's to catch ALCOs. Unique sounding locomotives, that's for sure. Thanks for posting this!

[@allanegleston4931]

interesting that the company that built these is gone ,but, the locos still live on.

[@NeathSpadge]

Brilliant video and sound. Got some video of them back in the 90s that I am slowly digitizing. But now wish I took lots more.

[@JohnSmith-sh1cu]

Great video. 4458 is actually only 1 of 4 Mk 1 44's left (4401 - 4460 range). The rest were scrapped and some of the older ones were withdrawn even in the early 1980's. Most of the 44's in preservation/have survived with other freight operators are of the Mk 2's (4461 - 44100). From what i've read they have very little difference between them. Hopefully if/when Qube is finished with 4458 they may make her available for purchase by a preservation group. She hauled the last Northern Mail (to Glen Innes) in November 1988 and also the last Intercapital Daylight Express (Sydney to Melbourne - to Albury portion) on 30 August 1991. Interestingly enough, the loco which hauled the Albury to Sydney return leg of this last journey also survives (4465) and I believe that the Victorian loco X37 which hauled the last journey for the Albury - Melbourne leg of the journey (both ways) has survived into preservation.

[@GRclass]

any news on 4458?

[@larsjuhlin6907]

I hope too,that 4458 go's to preservation lots of history on that unit,🙏

[@allanliversidge9827]

Think the early mk1s were GE equipped, later had AEI electrics. Great locomotives love em!!!!

[@nikosjk1]

Great video, those world series units look and sound great!

[@sebastianfs3825]

4:00 i love that roaring, sounds like its alive!

[@alcopower5710]

Alco Power forever 💪💪

[@jimcrawford5039]

Great video, I live near Harefield.

[@Rebel9668]

Cool beans! Sounds a lot like the RS1 and RS3 I've rode behind at the French Lick Scenic Rwy here in Southern Indiana, US.

[@ankitwap7]

Beautiful coverage!!

[@malcolmrayner3480]

Drove/fired those beasts out of Lithgow 44,45,48, 80 Class all alcos the 48 a little engine

[@johnwoodlock3989]

They sound just like a brace of C420s. Same engine, 12-251.

[@alcopower5710]

John Woodlock .....👍

[@SheltonDCruz]

Thanks!

[@mccoy79productions66]

Nice catch!

[@chase42211]

Very nice Andrew.

[@fernandosouzabenedito4601]

lindo ronco da alco

[@RailfanSrikrishna]

It's hauled by Alco 250 as prime mover it's once used to haul meter gauge locomotives ydm4 in india and now those Alco prime movers are used in braodguage shunters

[@dennisyoung4631]

*Alco has Soot!*

[@MLWQC]

Very cool indeed

[@kurtisslomka]

44s are over 60 yrs old

[@michaelsrailwayfilms7928]

Trains Australia wow that’s old, I though they were maybe 40 or 50 years old

[@maciejqantas5535]

One of the best rail movies! Super! 😀

[@cookwithme20]

these locomotives once were running in bolan pass .but now are turned into scrap

[@user-im9ch9oq6z]

Great video. Yes SUPER.

[@GRclass]

great video anyone know what happened to 4458?

[@michealproboscas3979]

Stored junee

[@hjebone]

DL-500s. Junior P.A.'s.

[@alcopower5710]

Stu Slaymaker .....looks like it.....and that’s a good thing 👍

[@alexpaumen3937]

Are any of these powered by 244s?p

[@mercgunzel]

No, both types are powered by 251's. There are two preserved Diesels in NSW with 244's namely a 43 class and a 40 class.

[@russellgxy2905]

@@mercgunzel I thought the 43's had GE FDL engines. Or maybe I'm confusing their engines with their shape, since they look very similar to the UM20 model

[@allanliversidge9827]

@@russellgxy2905 43 class built by Goninans. Copy of GE, smaller in dimensions but with 244 Alcos. I think AEI electrics ,not sure

[@vsvnrg3263]

i thoroughly enjoyed watching this. is this stuff for a paper factory at tumut?

[@matthewdempsey6583]

that is the roughest points at junee ive ever seen

[@lelomiliken7598]

In its own class of sounding off.👍👍

[@vsvnrg3263]

can someone explain to me why this shuttle needs to exist. why aren't trains from sydney terminated at harefield instead of junee or wagons dropped off the train at harefield instead of junee on the way to melbourne. i imagine the same would apply to trains originating in melbourne.

[@daviddowling9830]

vsv nrg yes I can explain the whole situation,it’s because they can.

[@vsvnrg3263]

@@daviddowling9830, i can't think of a better justification than that. that is the reason people give for climbing mt. everest, or going to the south pole or even to the local mcdonalds store. thanks for the insightful answer, much appreciated.

[@mercgunzel]

The track arrangement at Harefield is a relatively short siding off a fairly busy interstate main-line, which is single track. Any shunting would tie up the main line for long periods which is unacceptable. Hence the shuttle.

[@vsvnrg3263]

@@mercgunzel , that really is a good reason. ta for info.

[@muhammadchalidafin5644]

The shape of silver locomotive is like a truck,wow unique diesel locomotive.Great australian modern diesel keep the alco Help Cargo! 😀

[@TrainsDirectVictoria]

Qube*

[@dannymanman3760]

WDM1 loco

[@harrimanfox8961]

You mean DL-500

[@dannymanman3760]

@@harrimanfox8961 yes ..In US it's called DL-500... Here in India it's known as WDM1

[@harris9784]

Rather listen to the impatient, low grumbled chant of a EMD 567C doing real work!!

[@jahongirochilov2534]

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