The BLH AS-616 was a C-C diesel-electric locomotive built by Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton between 1950 and 1954. Nineteen railroads bought 214 locomotives, and two railroads bought seven cabless B units. The AS-616 was valued for its extremely high tractive effort, far more than any comparable Alco or EMD product. It was used in much the same manner as its four-axle counterpart, the AS-16, and its six-axle sister, the AS-416, though the six-traction motor design allowed better tractive effort at lower speeds.
Original owners Railroad Quantity Road numbers NotesBaldwin-Lima-Hamilton (demonstrators)21600to Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway 211, to Soo Line 3951601 to Oregon and Northwestern Railroad 1Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad 2 408, 409 Chicago and North Western Railway 3 1560, 1561, 1604 Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 39 5528–5529, 5533–5569 5533 to Eagle Mountain Railroad as 1020 in 1958Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway 7 204–210 to Soo Line Railroad 388–394Eagle Mountain Railroad (Kaiser Steel) 2 1012A, 1012B 1012A later sent to Kaiser Bauxite Jamaica,1012B later sent to RayonierBaldwin Diesel Zone - Kaiser SteelHouston Belt and Terminal Railway 1 32 Milwaukee Road 6 2100–2101, 2104–2107 2 2100B, 2101BB units - rebuilt with cabs and renumbered 2102, 2103 c.1953Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México 20 6800–6819 Orinoco Mining Company, Venezuela (U.S. Steel) 9 1001–1009 Pennsylvania Railroad 12 8966–8974, 8111, 8112, 8114 (ex-PWV)renumbered 6966–6977Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway 1 40 to PRR in 1960Worley, H. V. & Poellot, Jr., W. N. (1989). The Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railway: Story of the high and dry. pp. 201, 203-204, 275. Halifax, PA: Withers Publishing. .Southern Pacific Company (Texas and New Orleans Railroad)8177–184Southern Pacific Company515228–5278 Included dynamic braking55501–5505B units - renumbered 4901–4905; included dynamic brakingTennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company51502–1506Trona Railway152Union Pacific Railroad61260–1265Union Railroad3625–627Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil123371–3382 gauge; included dynamic brakingEstrada de Ferro Central do Brasil204371–4390Rede de Viação Paraná-Santa Catarina (Brazil)560–64Total 214 A units 7 B units
Design The AS-616 was very similar to the previous model, the Baldwin DRS-6-6-1500, riding on the same basic frame and sharing the same body. The design was very simple, lacking the 1950s styling of the competing EMD F3 and ALCO FA. The utilitarian design was valued for switching jobs, a position the AS-616 filled easily.
The AS-616 would be the company's best selling road switcher of all time, and the builder's third greatest selling diesel electric model of all time.
Redesign In 1954, BLH (believing the utilitarian design of their road switchers was the cause of their overall failure on the market) redesigned their entire roster of locomotives, with all gaining new abilities. The most notable effect of the redesign was the raising of the roof on all their road switchers, causing the roof to take the shape of a triangular prism. Only a few units were sold with this design, as failing sales had dropped to their lowest at the time. BLH began offering dynamic braking on all road switchers, though the AS-616 was already offered with optional dynamic brakes.
Usage Despite being marketed as a road switcher (like the EMD SD9 and ALCO RSD-4 of the same time period), the AS-616 saw most use as a heavy switcher. The impressive tractive effort and GSC rigid bolster trimount trucks appealed to roads with heavy hump yards (such as Southern Pacific). Ultimately, while many saw road service, the AS-616 was a switcher that was far ahead of its time.
BLH offered more options on the AS-616 in comparison to the DRS-6-6-1500, with some units gaining boilers, and others gaining dynamic braking. BLH also offered Multiple-unit train control on the AS-616, though many roads bought the unit purely for switching, opting out of MU. Some units that lacked MU were given MU by the parent company (or by an associate)Baldwin Diesel Zone - Replacement and Renewal Parts History depending on the road's preference.
By the 1970s almost all AS-616s had been scrapped or sold. A select few railroads-Trona Railway being a major operatorAmerican Rails - The Trona Railway- kept their diesels running far past their builder's lifetime.
Preservation Eight AS-616 diesels are preserved. Oregon and Northwestern Railroad #1, former Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton demonstrator #1601, at Pacific Southwest Railway Museum Trona Railway #52, at SMS Rail Lines as part of a former Trona Railway collection Southern Pacific #5250, in Jamaica Southern Pacific #5253, at Western Pacific Railroad Museum as Oregon & Northwestern #4 Southern Pacific #5274, at Western Pacific Railroad Museum as Oregon & Northwestern #3 Southern Pacific #5249, at SMS Rail Lines as part of a former Trona Railway collection Kaiser Steel #1012A, reportedly still with Kaiser Bauxite of Jamaica Kaiser Steel #1012B, at SMS Rail Lines, operational A ninth example was formerly preserved, Southern Pacific #5239, which was sent to the Oregon and Northwestern Railroad in October 1964 where it was used on O&NW as #2. It was then cannibalized for spare parts through the final years of operation, It was then stored in 1984 before being sold to Pacific Northwest Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in October 1990. 5239 was then later given to National Transportation Museum, St. Louis, Missouri, until it was stored in Tigard, Oregon and was subsequently scrapped in November 2009.
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