The ALCO RS-32 were a series of diesel locomotives that were also designated as a "DL721" by ALCO, the 2,000 hp RS-32 was intended to compete with EMD's GP20 and GE's U25B locomotives. Only 35 units were produced, with 25 units ordered by New York Central in 1961 and 10 units by Southern Pacific in 1962.
Southern Pacific's units were initially used in road service, but later settled into local freight service in San Francisco's "commute" territory. Here they were sometimes called upon to rescue stalled commuter trains. They later migrated across the system, ending their SP careers in Texas during the late 1970s with various other ALCo models.
Today there are a few of these engines that still exist.
Trivia[]
- The Alco RS32 was one of the final models in the RS series.
- Southern Pacific #7304 is on display at the Pacific Southwest Railway Museum while re-lettered and renumbered as Simolot #4004.
- New York Central’s RS-32s were commonly seen in both road and local freight assignments.
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