Product Description
American Locomotive Company (ALCO) — Schenectady NY, with additional plants at Auburn NY (Alco Products) and Montreal QC (Montreal Locomotive Works) — was through the mid-20th century the second-largest U.S. locomotive builder. ALCO’s diesel-electric locomotive line — including the RS-1, RS-2, RS-3, S-series switchers, and later Century series — was powered by the ALCO 244 series (1946-early 1950s) and ALCO 251 series (1954-1969+) V-type diesel engines.
The ALCO 244 and 251 engines were turbocharged through most of their production runs and operated at high exhaust temperatures requiring extensive thermal insulation on exhaust manifolds and turbocharger housings.
Plaintiffs alleged in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation that ALCO diesel-electric locomotive engines were specified through the asbestos era with:
- Asbestos-cloth wrap insulation applied to exhaust manifold runners
- Asbestos-cement plaster insulation troweled onto turbocharger housings
- Asbestos rope and tape stuffed into manifold flange connections and around exhaust-piping joints
- Asbestos-fiber gaskets at exhaust manifold and turbocharger flange interfaces
- Asbestos engine-room thermal insulation on cabinets, bulkheads, and piping
Locomotive shop machinists and diesel mechanics were allegedly exposed to respirable asbestos fibers when cutting away old exhaust wrap to access manifold studs and flanges during engine rebuild, top-end overhaul, and turbocharger replacement.
American Locomotive Company (ALCO) has been named as a Manufacturer Defendant in publicly filed U.S. asbestos personal-injury and wrongful-death litigation.
Workers Exposed
- Locomotive shop machinists rebuilding ALCO 244 and 251 engines
- Diesel mechanics at Class I and short-line railroad shops
- Locomotive maintenance workers servicing ALCO road units
- Railroad shop insulators replacing exhaust and engine-room insulation
- Industrial-railroad mechanics working ALCO switchers at steel mills, mines, and refineries