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Post by Spikre on Mar 15, 2017 10:56:18 GMT -8
not sure if 523 was wreck rebuild,or just a loco sent in for a 250 Engine upgrade? but after the rebuild there was raised hatch between the Exhaust stack and the radiator housing. the hatch looks almost as wide as the hood,and is about 4 or 5 inches tall. what purpose did the hatch have ? did other Alco 250 Program RS-2/3s also have this hatch ? rebuilt Tennesse Central units don't seem to have it,or the reconditioned ex-Reading RS-3s sent to TC don't have the hatch either. any one know of other Alco rebuilt RS units that have a similar Hatch ? picture of NH 523 in Mainline Modeler,December 85 on page 77. Spikre  |
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Post by ironrails on Mar 15, 2017 11:35:46 GMT -8
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Post by jbilbrey on Mar 15, 2017 12:58:00 GMT -8
I suspect that Mike is correct in that it has something to do with an updated [251] turbocharger being installed on the locomotive. The three second-hand RDG RS3's that the TC purchased were trade-in's by the Reading for more modern power. I am unsure what, if any, refurbishment Alco performed on them before sending them to the TC. They certainly didn't paint them. L&N 1350 was one of that road's two attempts to repower/rebuild their fleet of RS3's. It had a 251 prime-mover and turbocharger installed. The hatch in question also stood "proud" of the rest of the hood -about twice as much as seen on the NH RS3's. Flickr image of L&N 1350James Bilbrey LaVergne, TN |
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Post by Paul Cutler III on Mar 15, 2017 20:58:33 GMT -8
Spikre,
The NHRHTA did a short article on these in their Shoreliner magazine, Vol. 17, Issue 4 (1986), page 14-16. It is out of stock at the NHRHTA.
To sum up, by 1958 the NH needed new power but couldn't afford it (1957 was the last year of profitability). They decided to rebuild the RS-3 fleet "in kind" as they were 10 years old by that point. And for 1st gen. diesels, 10 years was considered middle aged (all 60 NH DL-109's were retired by 1960...not even 20 years old).
22 rebuilds were done by Alco in three groups (again, probably due to lack of money). All the Alco rebuilds had the black cab/orange hood paint scheme and were able to MU with later engines. They retained their 244's as NH didn't have the problems that other roads did with them. In fact, the RS-3's were considered by most NH men to be the best locos they ever had; they were "go anywhere, do anything" locos and were very dependable...so much so that the NH kept one (#526) in passenger trim for the RR president's use right 'til the end in 1968 (it got wrecked in Dec.'68...the NH's last accident).
The first rebuilds, Type I, kept their steam gen., and single bulb reflector headlights; #526 & #529 kept their buffer plates for diaphragms. #518, 526, 529, 549, & 553 were rebuilt May-June 1958.
Type II rebuilds kept the steam gen. but got twin sealed beam headlights. #533, 551, & 559 were rebuilt Oct. 1959.
Type III rebuilds lost the steam gen. (got a concrete block instead) and water tank, got the twin sealed beam headlights, and they all received a raised area around the stack for a different kind of turbo. #517, 520, 523, 527, 528, 534, 535, 537, 538, 545, 548, 557, & 558 were rebuilt in early 1962.
Further, the NH itself rebuilt two units in their Lamberton Street Shop: #542 & 543. They kept the steam gen. and single bulb headlights, but were not able to MU with the 1956 road switcher fleet (the GP9, H16-44 (TM-style), & RS-11). They, too, had the black cab/orange hood paint scheme.
Lastly, the remaining 21 NH RS-3's were never rebuilt.
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Post by redbaron on Mar 16, 2017 6:47:22 GMT -8
For the sake of modeling this is irrelevant, but I do believe the roof hatch that is mentioned was for an increased size coolant water expansion tank.
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Post by Spikre on Mar 16, 2017 10:47:39 GMT -8
ironrails, as Alco modified the 244s they got different letters starting with A. by the end of RS-3 production,mid 56,they were up to the 244H series,which also became known as the "250" series to ease fears of many roads that had bad service from 244s. the mid 53 release of the Alco water Cooled turbos were also used on the early 12 cylinder 251s. Alco released up-graded turbos sporadically until they closed. the Turbos on the C636s were the culmination of this work by Alco. so will go with expanded water capacity on the NH unit. never saw the L&N 251 RS-3,a neat loco,will add it to DSG-2. Spikre 
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