Well this model railroader is spending the night at the Holiday Inn located in Schenectady, NY which come to find out is the home of Alco Products!
This RS 3 is on display across from the Holiday Inn downtown.
Alco Products got its start in Schenectady, NY in 1848 when John Ellis and Platt Potter and others of that city invited the Norris brothers of Philadelphia to establish a locomotive factory there. The needed $50,000 was raised by subscription, and the Schenectady Locomotive Engine Manufactury was built on land purchased from Union College, near the Erie Canal and the Mohawk River.
Somewhat more than a year after the company's founding, its first locomotive, "Lightning", was out shopped for delivery to the Utica and Schenectady Railroad. The "Lightning", though powerful and fast, had insufficient steaming capacity and was too heavy for the rails of the time. It was pronounced a failure. With no more orders forthcoming, the Norrises withdrew from the venture, and the enterprise was sold for taxes in February, 1851.
However, the company's principals felt that the manufacture of locomotives in the early and important railroad center bounded by the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers could flourish, and in May, 1851, the Schenectady Locomotive Works was formed. The same management (exclusive of the Norris brothers) headed the new company. Fortunately, Walter McQueen, the famous mechanic, was interested in the new firm, and significant production soon began. More than two hundred locomotives were manufactured over the next six years. During the financial panic of 1857, John Ellis, then one of the trustees , took advantage of the company's temporary reverses to gain a solid majority of its stock.
During the Civil War, Schenectady supplied at least eighty-four locomotives for the U.S. Military Railroad, many of which had been built as far-seeing speculative venture shortly before the conflict started. Between the War and 1870 fire and flood ravaged the facility, resulting in much reconstruction and modernization. During this period Schenectady produced the famous 4-4-0, "Jupiter", which figured in the Promontory Point celebration of the first transcontinental railroad. Most of the Schenectady locomotives were, like the "Jupiter", of a conventional design marketed to satisfy growing domestic needs.
As railroads multiplied throughout the seventies and eighties, so did the Schenectady Works expand yearly in both manpower and manufacturing capacity. The Ellis family retained control through the end of the century and, except for a brief defection, Walter McQueen oversaw mechanical considerations. Indeed, "McQueen engines" were widely known for their substantial excellence. Another notable locomotive designer, A.J. Pitkin, joined the firm during this period. He was to earn particular fame as the creator of the high speed 4-4-0's of the NYC&HR RR. Also he was later destined to head the firm of consolidated companies that became American Locomotive.
Somewhat more than a year after the company's founding, its first locomotive, "Lightning", was out shopped for delivery to the Utica and Schenectady Railroad. The "Lightning", though powerful and fast, had insufficient steaming capacity and was too heavy for the rails of the time. It was pronounced a failure. With no more orders forthcoming, the Norrises withdrew from the venture, and the enterprise was sold for taxes in February, 1851.
However, the company's principals felt that the manufacture of locomotives in the early and important railroad center bounded by the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers could flourish, and in May, 1851, the Schenectady Locomotive Works was formed. The same management (exclusive of the Norris brothers) headed the new company. Fortunately, Walter McQueen, the famous mechanic, was interested in the new firm, and significant production soon began. More than two hundred locomotives were manufactured over the next six years. During the financial panic of 1857, John Ellis, then one of the trustees , took advantage of the company's temporary reverses to gain a solid majority of its stock.
During the Civil War, Schenectady supplied at least eighty-four locomotives for the U.S. Military Railroad, many of which had been built as far-seeing speculative venture shortly before the conflict started. Between the War and 1870 fire and flood ravaged the facility, resulting in much reconstruction and modernization. During this period Schenectady produced the famous 4-4-0, "Jupiter", which figured in the Promontory Point celebration of the first transcontinental railroad. Most of the Schenectady locomotives were, like the "Jupiter", of a conventional design marketed to satisfy growing domestic needs.
As railroads multiplied throughout the seventies and eighties, so did the Schenectady Works expand yearly in both manpower and manufacturing capacity. The Ellis family retained control through the end of the century and, except for a brief defection, Walter McQueen oversaw mechanical considerations. Indeed, "McQueen engines" were widely known for their substantial excellence. Another notable locomotive designer, A.J. Pitkin, joined the firm during this period. He was to earn particular fame as the creator of the high speed 4-4-0's of the NYC&HR RR. Also he was later destined to head the firm of consolidated companies that became American Locomotive.
For more visit: http://tardis.union.edu/community/project95/ALCO/history.html
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