Product Description
American Locomotive Company (ALCO) (Schenectady, New York — founded 1901, exited the locomotive business 1969) was through the first half of the 20th century one of the principal U.S. manufacturers of steam locomotives and through the diesel transition a major U.S. manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives. ALCO steam power was specified by every major U.S. railroad through the steam era; ALCO diesel-electric road units competed with EMD and Baldwin through the 1940s-1960s.
Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that ALCO locomotives — both steam and diesel-electric — were specified with extensive asbestos materials:
- Asbestos boiler lagging and pipe covering on steam locomotives (boiler shells, smokebox insulation, steam piping)
- Asbestos engine-room thermal insulation on diesel-electric units
- Asbestos exhaust insulation
- Asbestos cylinder-head and exhaust-manifold gaskets
- Asbestos electrical wire insulation on traction-motor and generator wiring
American Locomotive Company / ALCO Products has been named as a Manufacturer Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.
Workers Exposed
- Locomotive engineers and steam-era firemen
- Railroad shop machinists rebuilding ALCO power
- Boilermakers (IBB Local members) working steam-locomotive boilers
- Diesel mechanics at ALCO-equipped shop facilities