Russel, thank you for your videos. I'll admit the audio bandwidth was slightly limited, but the links your video provided showing various RS-3's and RS-11's in start-up and operation caused me to enjoy (waste?) a coupla hours in ALCO audio heaven....SMERF. What really upsets me is that when the New York Central replaced their K-11/K-14 Pacifics and J-2 Hudsons with RS-3s, I didn't appreciate that lovely burbling sound I was exposed to each time I went into New York City for my college education. Isn't it sad that nostalgic experiences and memories are wasted on self-centered youth.
I can relate to that... when I grew up, the power assigned to the CP Lachute sub was mainly MLW RS-18s (RS-11s with a Canuck accent, eh?). The sound of those 12-cylinder 251s idling was almost a comforting sound to me, and to this day, when I hear an Alco idling, it's like music, a calming tune. And when they revved up those magnificent machines, belching smoke out the stack, that was, for me, the most manly sound ever heard on Earth. That deep throaty gurgling, accompanied by the low frequency vibration that got right into every fiber of your being, that was very impressive for this young boy and still thrills me every time I hear it, forty-odd years along. So when the museum woke up the old Roberval & Saguenay RS-2 from its twenty-year slumber... pure joy!
