Here's a NY Central RS3 lash-up on passenger duty... this time in Palmer, MA. This 1954 photo was taken by David Sweetland. Again, we have more of that great Alco exhaust!
Great photo, refreshing memories of RS3s assigned to commuters on the Harlem Div. Obviously after all the years building steam engines, ALCO didn't know how to design a loco that didn't smoke. LOL
I think RS-1s had wood-lined cab roofs on the interior. A friend who was a locomotive engineer on a shortline once mused, "Typical Alco. They didn't know if they were building a steam locomotive or a diesel."
You'd think he'd have counted his blessings. I don't believe EMD cabs had any insulation at all back then.
Somehow, the purchasing department had gotten word they had another order for 30 more Berkshires and 10 more "Big Boys" so, they went ahead and ordered the wood for trim and when they discovered the truth, decided they might as well use the wood up on the early RS's. Doug
They started building the RS-1 during the war. Probably in order to get permission from the War Production Board to keep producing them, ALCO switched from steel to plywood car body sides on the DL-109 during that war.
That, and magnetic mines. The New Haven had a time replacing that plywood in the 1940s. That was when we only went to war when absolutely necessary, and fought them like we wanted to get them over with.
