Nostalgia & History > BRC's Smokin' Alcos

The Belt Ry. of Chicago owned seven Alco's in the 1980's. As most know they were good pullers and could easily make an exhaust cloud! In fact some BRC engineers would even crack the throttle an extra notch if they saw a railfan with camera!!

Photo 1 Aug 1986

Photos 2 and 3 Oct 1986

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Photo 4 10-30-1988

Photo 5 11-12-1989

Photo 6 June 1989

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Photo 7 June 1989

Photo 8 11-24-1989

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Nice shots. It's always interesting to see Alco's on stack trains. There were only a few places where that was possible.

Dave

I had the exact oppsite experience at McCook, IL, one day. As I eagerly awaited the ALCo exhaust cloud when the BRC train got the signal, the engineer opened the throttle so slowly that there was no smoke at all. Gerry
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ghemr Wrote:
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In fact some BRC engineers would even crack the throttle an extra notch if they saw a railfan with camera!!

Excellent shots!

First-rate collection of photos.
Thanks for posting these.
Bob

ghemr Wrote:
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>  In fact some
> BRC engineers would even crack the throttle an
> extra notch if they saw a railfan with camera!!
>
Definitely agree! I got the smoke effect one day (I think in 1989) at Pullman Jct, but the engineer knew I would be there. IF I remember correctly, the crew gave me a cab ride to the head end of their train (South Chicago yard maybe?). At some point I had to WALK back to my car, and because it was Chicago, wondering if I'd live to get to the car.

When the train approached Pullman Jct, the engineer threw the throttle wide open, and because it IS the Windy City, the beautiful black ALCO smoke blew in front of the train...

It took me a while to pin down the location of picture 5.
Were you at Western Ave., next to the Wabash main, looking west?

It was said that the 420 was the pet engine of the diesel shop boss, Ken Smith.
He was the son of Vernon Smith. Ken had previously been a trainmaster on the
Rock Island.  Some engineers did not like the 420 because the fuel tank was right under the cab floor.
I think the 420 went out of service shortly after Ken Smith retired.

Englewood Wrote:
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> It took me a while to pin down the location of
> picture 5.
> Were you at Western Ave., next to the Wabash main,
> looking west?

Yes indeed, Western Ave with 75th to my back....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/18 21:02 by ghemr.

Cool pics, reading about the BRC it was and probably still is a very busy terminal railroad in Chicago!

Posted from Android

 Thanks for the compliments! Indeed, the BRC is still a very important railroad in Chicago.