ALCO Century 415

The C415 is a large switcher locomotive or small road switcher locomotive equipped with a raised cab mounted slightly off-center, with a lower, narrower hood on either side. The longer one contained the diesel engine, a eight-cylinder turbocharged Alco 251-F, while the shorter contained auxiliaries. The C415 could be ordered with three different cab heights; a low one for minimum clearances, a regular height one, and an extra-height one for maximum visibility. Trucks fitted were either Type B standard road trucks or ALCO Hi-Ad (high adhesion) Type B trucks. ==Service history==

The locomotive was not very popular; 26 were built between 1966 and 1968 for seven different owners. The locomotive may still be in use. According to the November 2011 issue of Railfan & Railroad magazine, the Burlington Junction Railway owned three C415s numbered 21, 701 and 702. ==Original owners==

• Hamersley Iron in Western Australia bought the prototype in May 1968, formerly lettered as ALCO 415. The locomotive was equipped with a medium height cab and AAR Type B trucks. • Chehalis Western Railroad bought a single high cab unit with Hi-Ad trucks. • Columbia and Cowlitz Railway bought a single high cab unit with Hi-Ad trucks. (Both the Columbia and Cowlitz and the Chehalis Western are Weyerhaeuser properties) • Monongahela Connecting Railroad bought a single low cab unit with Hi-Ad trucks. • Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad bought ten medium cab units with AAR Type B trucks. • Southern Pacific Railroad bought ten high cab units with Type B road trucks. • Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway bought two medium cab units with Hi-Ad trucks; these were passed to the Burlington Northern Railroad, 4010-4011 after a merger between the two railroads. More units were on order when Alco ended locomotive production in 1969. ==Preservation==

• Southern Pacific Railroad 2406 is in Monterrey, Mexico, lettered as Fundidora Monterrey Steel 25. • Hamersley Iron 1000, formerly Alco Demonstrator 415 is at the Pilbara Railways Historical Society in Western Australia. • Monongahela Connecting Railroad 701 is at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. • Buffalo Southern Railroad 423, formerly Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 423 is at the Buffalo Southern's Hamburg Shops in Hamburg, New York. ==See also==