ALCO RS-27

ALCO RS-27
Minnesota Commercial Railway 318 at Minneapolis, July 2009
Power type	Diesel-electric
Builder	ALCO
Model	RS-27
Build date	December 1959 – October 1962
Total produced	27
AAR wheel arr.	B-B
UIC classification	Bo′Bo′
Gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Wheel diameter	40 in (1,016 mm)
Wheelbase	40 ft 4 in (12.29 m)
Length	57 ft 2 1⁄2 in (17.44 m)
Width	9 ft 11 1⁄8 in (3.03 m)
Height	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Prime mover	Alco 251B
Engine type	Four-stroke diesel
Aspiration	Turbocharged
Displacement	10,688 cu in (175.14 l)
Traction motors	Four
Cylinders	V16
Cylinder size	9 × 10.5 in (229 × 267 mm)
Power output	2,400 hp (1.8 MW)

The ALCO RS-27 (specification DL-640) is a diesel-electric locomotive built by ALCO between December 1959 and October 1962. Only 27 examples were manufactured. With ALCO's introduction of the Century Series line, the C-424 (specification DL-640A) replaced the RS-27 in the builder's catalog. Today, the Minnesota Commercial Railway has the only two operating RS-27s left.

Original Owners

Railroad	Quantity	Road Numbers	Notes
American Locomotive Company (demonstrator)	5	640-1 to 640-5	640-1 rebuilt as C424 for Pennsylvania Railroad, 640-2 through 640-5 to Union Pacific Railroad 675–678; 678 wrecked 1969, 675–676 sold 1971 to Montreal Locomotive Works and used as lease fleet on Roberval and Saguenay Railway and British Columbia Railway, sold to Devco Railway 1974, renumbered 214-215, scrapped 1984
Chicago and North Western Railway	4	900–903	One sold to Peabody Coal, three sold to Green Bay and Western 316–318; GBW 317 scrapped, 316 and 318 to Minnesota Commercial Railway
Green Bay and Western Railroad	1	310
Pennsylvania Railroad	15	2400–2414	to Penn Central and Conrail (same numbers)
Soo Line Railroad	2	415–416
Total	27

External links

• Sarberenyi, Robert. Alco RS27 Original Owners.

References

• Hayden, Bob (1980). Model Railroader Cyclopedia Volume 2, Diesel Locomotives. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Company. ISBN 0-89024-547-9.