NEW INFORMATION REGARDING ALCO ENGINE BLOCKS:

Fairbanks Morse Engine makes all of the parts, including blocks, for the 251 engine. We still manufacture and sell new Alco engines today. We also sell reman engines. We have been building and servicing Alco 251 engines since 1994 as the OEM when we acquired the business from GE.



If you have end users that need parts or service, please have them contact us.



Regards,





Mark Holley

Director of Sales - Commercial Segment



John Mech

Someone should correct me if I am wrong but I think the GE involved with ALCO engines was the English GE (General Electric Company plc usually abbreviated GEC) which has since been split up and merged out of existence under that name.

I think the 251 passed from ALCO to White to GEC to FM. Cool enough that former locomotive maker FM, maker of the famous opposed piston design, also produces ALCO-design engines; we don't need to get American GE involved! (GE in the past has supplied new EMD-type 645 engines.)

Steve

You are correct about GEC (England) once being involved with ALCO however we are talking about GE (USA and Canada) here.Once in the early days GE, they used the 251 engine in export diesel locomotives (Yukon & White Pass 90 ton units)
GE (USA bought everything in 1985 from Bombardier who sold the Locomotive & Diesel division after failing to produce orders for their HR series. GE sold everything to FM/ALCO later.
A story I once heard is that BN heard about GE buying the 251 engine and wanted the ALCO engine put into an order of Dash-8 units that was pending at the time with GE. GE reportedly said no and this is why they sold the 251 engine to FM.

Hmm...someone better correct the Wikipedia article then as they only speak of it passing through the ownership of GEC, not GE.

After the termination of locomotive production in 1969, the locomotive designs (but not the engine development rights) were transferred to the Montreal Locomotive Works, who continued their manufacture. The diesel engine business was sold to White Motor Corporation in 1970, who formed them into White Industrial Power. In 1977 White Industrial Power was sold to the British The General Electric Company plc (GEC) who renamed the unit Alco Power, Inc. The business was subsequently sold to the Fairbanks-Morse corporation, who continue to manufacture Alco-designed engines in addition to their own design.

That missed two owners; BBD and GE(USA); both of which owned ALCO before FM bought it.

I also came across this news release. So did GEC (UK) sell it to GE (USA)? Because I have definitely seen references to FM buying the business or rights from one of the General Electrics.

Steve

GEC Buys ALCO Engines —ALCO Power Is New Name

The General Electric Company Limited of London, England (GEC), which is not affiliated with the General Electric Co. of U.S.A., has announced that it completed the purchase of ALCO Engines, White Industrial Power, Inc., from White Motor Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio.

The new name for the 129-year-old American company will be ALCO Power Inc., with the base headquarters remaining in Auburn, N.Y.

David Powell, the managing director of GEC's Diesel Group, was elected ALCO's chairman of the board. Mr. Powell says the present operating management team will continue as before, with John Y. Sylvester III being the president.

Mr. Powell says: "The acquisition of ALCO is a major step in affording GEC an additional base from which its sales to worldwide markets can be expanded, and will secure for GEC a share of the substantial diesel engine market for North and South America." Mr. Sylvester says: "Under GEC's guidance, ALCO will continue to follow the same basic business policies and philosophies that have made ALCO the strong and viable company of long standing." GEC is financially strong and had sales over three billion dol- lars in 1976. ALCO's new parent manufactures diesel engines, gas turbines, turbochargers, switchgears, controls, rectifiers, traction equipment, computers, medical equipment, radios, televisions, kitchen appliances, telephone systems, etc.

Has there been any significant North American installations of 251 prime movers since the 1994 acquisition? I remember it created quite a stir, but haven't heard of any use of these engines, and heard nothing about any modifications to meet the EPA standards for off-road diesel power.

Note the moldy oldy post from a decade AGO.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=6583

http://www.fairbanksmorse.com/bin/90.pdf

Has there been any consideration for support for 244 and other Alco power?

FM/ALCO only supports the 251 engine. The only sources of parts for the 539 and 244 engines are in the used parts market.

F-M purchased the Alco 251 engine line to support the US Coast Guard, which remains a user of 251 engines in the "Polar" class icebreakers, "Bear" and "Reliance" class medium-endurance cutters. The Alco purchase coincided with the overhaul of the icebreakers. F-M's o/p engines are also in a number of the heavy-endurance "Hamilton"-class cutters, iirc. F-M also manufactures the Colt-Pielstick diesels which are common in a number of new-build Navy ships. I was told by an F-M insider there was plenty of non-railroad Alco business out there to justify F-M's purchase of the 251 line.

At the time of the F-M purchase, Alco 251 engines were also popular with several marine users on the inland waterways, including ACBL, with Alco power in perhaps a third of their towboat fleet.

Additionally, the Foss ocean-going tug (Seattle-based) "Lauren Foss" is a relatively new craft and has 251s.

Is it true that somewhere in the Alco "timeline" what was left of the company was in the same corporate family as Studebaker?

Yes, ALCO was purchased by Studabaker-Worthington who dismantled ALCO to make as much money they could by selling it piecemeal. They had no interest in keeping Locomotive Production going even as ALCO had about 100 locomotives on order which they were forced to cancel or send to Montreal. That was the final nail in ALCO's coffin!

MARK DAVID CANADA in Montreal , www.markdavidcanada.com
Supplies parts and service for ALCO 251 locomotives & engines , as well as ALCO 244 and ALCO 539. Our company started in 2007 after Canada Allied Diesel was sold.
CAD was once an authorized distributor for ALCO Power Inc.

There is over 30 years experience in ALCO parts.

Feel free to cal for more info at 1-514-748-8770

Thank You

Mark David
Director
Mark David Canada

I'm guessing that it would not be legal to put 251's in new (USA) locomotives as I presume they do not meet whatever EPA tier we're on. Not that anyone is wanting to.

You are correct.

The Alcos do not meet Tier 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 levels.

However there are still a lot running around as short line freight and shunting service in
plants.

Some are still in gen sets and marine.