The ALCO RSD-5 is a diesel-electric locomotive rated at , that rode on a pair of three-axle trucks, having a C-C wheel arrangement.
Basically an upgraded version of the earlier ALCO RSD-4, and used in much the same manner as its four-axle counterpart, the ALCO RS-3, the six-motor design allowed better tractive effort at lower speeds.
Original owners RailroadQuantityRoad numbersNotesAmerican Locomotive Company (demonstrator) 1 1606 to ATSF 2157Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 52 2110–2156, 2158–2162 Birmingham Southern Railroad 1 160 Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 26 5570–5595 Chicago and North Western Railway 10 1665–1667, 1684–1690 Central Railroad of New Jersey 1 1615 Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) 6 2150–2155 Renumbered 570–575Pennsylvania Railroad 6 8446–8451 St. Louis Southwestern Railway 3 270–272 Southern Pacific Company 36 5294–5307, 5336–5339, 5445–5448, 5494–5507 21 of them traded back to Alco in 1960 and rebuilt into Alco RSD-12'sSouthern Pacific (Texas and New Orleans Railroad) 24 155–176, 185–186 Utah Railway 1 306 to DLMX 324 Ferrocarril del Pacífico 35 801–835 Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México 2 6900–6901 Total 204
Preserved units As of 2024, there are only two unrebuilt RSD-5s known to be in existence.
CNW #1689 is preserved and operational at the Illinois Railway Museum. Utah Railway #306 is preserved at the Utah State Railroad Museum awaiting a planned restoration to its Utah Railway colors. It is currently painted as Nickel Plate Road #324, from its former owner, Doyle McCormack of the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation.
Two former RSD-5s (rebuilt as RSD-12's) built for the Southern Pacific survive at the Southern California Railway Museum (SP #2954 and SP #2958).
References