The ALCO Century 415 is a diesel-electric locomotive of B-B wheel arrangement produced by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) as part of their Century Series of locomotives.
Specifications The C415 is a large switcher locomotive or small road switcher locomotive equipped with a raised cab mounted slightly off-center, with a lower, narrower hood on either side. The longer one contained the diesel engine, a eight-cylinder turbocharged Alco 251-F, while the shorter contained auxiliaries. The C415 could be ordered with three different cab heights; a low one for minimum clearances, a regular height one, and an extra-height one for maximum visibility.
Trucks fitted were either Type B standard road trucks or ALCO Hi-Ad (high adhesion) Type B trucks.
Service history The locomotive was not very popular; 26 were built between 1966 and 1968 for seven owners. As of 2011, the Burlington Junction Railway owned three C415s numbered 21, 701 and 702.
Original owners Hamersley Iron in Western Australia bought the prototype in May 1968, formerly lettered as ALCO 415. The locomotive was equipped with a medium height cab and AAR Type B trucks. Chehalis Western Railroad bought a single high cab unit with Hi-Ad trucks. Columbia and Cowlitz Railway bought a single high cab unit with Hi-Ad trucks. (Both the Columbia and Cowlitz and the Chehalis Western are Weyerhaeuser properties) Monongahela Connecting Railroad bought a single low cab unit with Hi-Ad trucks. Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad bought ten medium cab units with AAR Type B trucks. Southern Pacific Railroad bought ten high cab units with Type B road trucks. Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway bought two medium cab units with Hi-Ad trucks; these were passed to the Burlington Northern Railroad, 4010-4011 after a merger between the two railroads. More units were on order when Alco ended locomotive production in 1969.
Preservation Southern Pacific Railroad 2406 is in Monterrey, Mexico, lettered as Fundidora Monterrey Steel 25. Hamersley Iron 1000, formerly Alco Demonstrator 415 is at the Pilbara Railways Historical Society in Western Australia.Exhibits Pilbara Railway Historical Society Monongahela Connecting Railroad 701 is at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. Chehalis Western Railroad 684 is at Fife History Museum and Cultural Center in Fife, Washington. Buffalo Southern Railroad 423, formerly Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 423 is at the Buffalo Southern's Hamburg Shops in Hamburg, New York.
See also List of ALCO diesel locomotives
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