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locomotives from Alco when and if there was a successful design. The additional burden of the war created more work for the Alco diesel engineering staff. This engineering work was mostly to expand production of diesel engines for the U. S. Navy. Effective April 4, 1942 the War
Production Board began controlling all industrial production. The Transportation Equipment Branch and the Railroad Advisory Committee both of the War Production Board met on April 8, 1942 to develop a railroad equipment production program for the remainder of the year. This group recommended that diesel locomotive builders build for maximum production. Alco and Baldwin would build diesel switchers and EMD would build freight diesels. Faced with these considerable difficulties the Alco diesel engineering staff continued the 241 engine project, but at a very slow pace.
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test at Auburn, New York on March 29, 1944. Testing of 241 engines in 1944 revealed several shortcomings, including failures of the connecting rods and their bearings, and the GE turbocharger's inability to supply sufficient air to the engine as the engine's speed was increased. As a result, work began that year to design a new engine based on the 241; this design was named the
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for a passenger locomotive. The diesel engine that it did have in 1940, the Alco 539T, would produce approximately 1300 horsepower in an eight-cylinder engine. The 539 engine did not have capacity to produce much more than 1300 horsepower. It was not a good candidate for long term locomotive production with capability for greater horsepower.
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the Alco 241 engine program. The 241 engine was approved for development on March 12, 1940. The company authorized both 12 cylinder and 16 cylinder designs. The Alco 241 engine would have a bore (cylinder diameter) of 9 inches (229 mm), and a stroke of 10.5 inches (267 mm). Its designation combines
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The introduction of EMC's FT freight diesel in 1939 made Alco management realize that they needed a new diesel engine in order to compete for diesel locomotive sales. The engine that Alco needed must be capable of producing in the range of 1500 horsepower for a freight locomotive and 2000 horsepower
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in
October. These tests were abruptly halted in November after several mechanical problems, including a crankshaft failure in one of the engines. The locomotives subsequently returned to ALCO property, where the engines underwent teardown and inspection, while the carbodies were scrapped. By this
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On
November 10, 1943 at the locomotive builders meeting with the War Production Board Alco again requested to build road diesels. On December 10, 1943 Alco received approval to build one experimental three unit road freight locomotive in the fourth quarter of 1944. A 12-cylinder 241 engine is put on
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had begun and the wartime environment caused all of Alco's businesses to grow. The diesel engine engineering and testing staff had been limited by the previous economic conditions of the Great
Depression. Prior to the outbreak of the war the Gulf Mobile & Ohio Railroad ordered 80 diesel freight
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did a study to recommend a diesel engine specification. His recommendation was for a high speed, 9" X 10.5" V-type diesel engine operating at a maximum of 1,000 rpm with a 45-degree angle between the two cylinder banks. Alco's first attempt at attaining 1500 horsepower in a diesel engine was with
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With work delayed by the onset of World War II, the first test engine, a small two-cylinder model, was not tested until late 1943, with larger 12 and 16 cylinder versions under construction at the time. During the design process, engineers concluded that the company's existing turbocharger of
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The Alco's design goals for the 241 engine were a high operating speed, a high cylinder output of 135 psi bmep (brake mean effective pressure), a high horsepower to weight ratio, and the capability for growth with later improvements.
47:'s identifier for that bore and stroke - 2 - with the year its design was approved for laboratory testing - 1941. Alco was focused on creating a diesel engine capable of competing with the EMD FT.
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to incorporate that company's aircraft turbocharger design in the 241 engine. The first tests of a 241 engine with the GE turbo were conducted on the 12-cylinder test engine in March, 1944.
72:. Later that year, ALCO management decided to abandon their previous plan to use the 241 in production locomotives, instead choosing to use the new 244 design as soon as possible.
31:(ALCO). It was the company's first diesel engine originally designed to power road locomotives, with a higher output and operating speed than previous designs.
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choice, a Buchi product, did not have the capacity to allow the engine to reach the desired horsepower output. As a result, in mid-1943, work began with
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Cuisinier, W. A. (Preston Cook) Extra 2200 South Issue #34 May June 1972 "Technifocus For The
Technician Pre- FA (Black Maria) pp. 17–18.
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Design work on the 241, began in 1940, initially led by Ralph Miller, who was shortly thereafter replaced by Paul
Vaughan. Alco Engineer
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time, the 241's successor, the 244, had entered production, and no further work was conducted on the 241 design.
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The
American Locomotive Company: A Centennial Remembrance
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in 1945, which late in the year underwent testing on the
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211:Steinbrenner, George (2003).
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77:demonstrator road locomotives
81:Delaware and Hudson Railroad
268:American Locomotive Company
113:Steinbrenner, page 179-180"
29:American Locomotive Company
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293:McIntosh & Seymour 538
288:McIntosh & Seymour 531
345:Diesel locomotive engines
16:Diesel locomotive engine
170:Steinbrenner, page 226"
156:Steinbrenner, page 200"
138:Steinbrenner, page 193"
277:McIntosh & Seymour
197:Steinbrenner, page 229
179:Steinbrenner, page 228
147:Steinbrenner, page 222
129:Stenbrenner, page 221"
87:before moving to the
85:New Haven Railroad
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280:(Subsidiary)
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53:World War II
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40:Paul Vaughan
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25:prime mover
96:References
309:ALCO 539T
101:Footnotes
339:Category
324:ALCO 251
319:ALCO 244
314:ALCO 241
21:ALCO 241
270:(ALCO)
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302:ALCO
217:ISBN
45:Alco
19:The
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