EMD MRS-1
Encyclopedia
The EMD MRS-1 is a type of diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division for the United States Army Transportation Corps
(USATC) in 1952. They were built with multigauge
trucks and to a narrow loading gauge
for service anywhere in the world in the event of war. Thirteen of the locomotives were built, with serial numbers 15873–15885. At almost $500,000 each in 1952 dollars,
more than three times the price of a standard locomotive of the period,
these were very expensive locomotives.
Declared un-needed for wartime operations in about 1970, they were then used on various military bases around the United States, with some serving on the Alaska Railroad
. Five locomotives are preserved, three currently in operating condition.
and the intensification of the Cold War
at the beginning of the 1950s caused the USATC to consider what it might need for a new land war in Europe.
They came up with a requirement for a locomotive capable of running on the existing tracks of a wide variety of railway systems. Key parts of the specification included adjustable-gauge
trucks
, compact bodywork to fit restrictive loading gauge
s, replaceable coupler
s to fit a variety of systems, and a power output of 1600 hp. The trucks' wheelsets adjusted between standard gauge
and 5 ft 6 in (1676 mm), which encompasses the vast majority of the broad gauge
s in use worldwide, including those of the then Soviet Union (1520 mm) and the Iberian peninsula
(1668 mm).
The specification was put out to tender, and two companies responded; GM and GE
. Both companies were given contracts to produce a batch of thirteen locomotives which would be evaluated by the USATC; the vendor providing the better locomotive would then produce the rest of the required locomotives.
Both manufacturers delivered their sample batch in 1952, and after testing the GE locomotives, which were actually produced by Alco as a subcontractor, were declared the winner, and a further batch of 70 Alco MRS-1
locomotives were ordered. No more EMD locomotives were built.
As delivered, they were painted in gloss black with white numbering and lettering. They were numbered as 1808–1820 in US Army service.
facility at Marietta, Pennsylvania
awaiting a war to use them in; they had not been purchased for peacetime use. These brand-new locomotives, with at most a couple of weeks' actual use, sat preserved until approximately 1970, when the Pentagon concluded that their plans for a future, large-scale land war no longer included the capture and use of the enemy's railway system.
Thus the 96 locomotives were redundant for their original purpose. Many of the units were taken out of storage and assigned to various military installations around the country, where locomotives of that size and power were required. Five EMD MRS-1s were sent to the Naval Ammunition Depot in Hawthorne, Nevada
(now the Hawthorne Army Depot
), but were unsuccessful there and placed into storage.
, and in November 1952 the locomotive was shipped to the Canadian National Railway
for testing on the Hudson Bay Railway
between The Pas
and Churchill, Manitoba
, where it became the first diesel locomotive to operate on that line. In May 1953, the locomotive returned to the BRC's shops in Chicago where it was stripped down and examined for abnormal wear from the cold weather, which was not found. The locomotive was then used at Fort Eustis for regular service and training.
Unit #1909 was also sent for cold-weather testing, in this case to the Alaska Railroad
for a 3-year trial period. Shipped back in 1955, its engine was rebored to a larger size and slightly greater power output, then placed into storage. In 1969 it was reactivated and sent to the Vandenberg Air Force Base
for service hauling supplies for the proposed Manned Orbiting Laboratory
and components for Titan
launch vehicles.
(DB) and proved quite successful, although the DB preferred German-designed diesel-hydraulic locomotives. Subsequently, it tested on both SNCF
(France
) and NMBS/SNCB (Belgium), in the latter case successfully for GM-EMD since the NMBS/SNCB subsequently purchased EMD-licensed NOHAB
locomotives.
metals. In 1977, the five MRS-1 locomotives that had been unsuccessfully transferred to the Navy were moved to Alaska to join thirteen of their Alco cousins.
Of these, two (#1809
and #1820)
are in operation at the San Diego Railroad Museum; #1811 is on display at the US Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia; #1813 is in operation at the Heber Valley Historic Railroad
; and #1818 is preserved at the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry in Wasilla, Alaska
. Update(11/27/10)Photo found online shows #1718 on display in Wasilla Alaska http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr0604/arr1718.jpg
Being produced to the same specification, both GE/ALCO and EMD MRS-1s are very similar in appearance and can easily be mistaken; they are both C-C road-switchers that are very low in profile in order to fit within European loading gauges. The major exterior differences are the peaked cab roof and long hood
roof on the EMD locomotives, and the radiator intakes on the sides of the long hood end, which have outside shutters on the Alco locomotives. In addition, the short hood
is visibly lower than the long hood, thanks to the long hood's peaked roof; on the ALCO units, the two are the same height. The frame side sills are also different; the Alco's are straight from front to rear, while the EMD's step down towards each end of the locomotive.
name, since it did not appear to have been the official model name in documentation from the USATC or the manufacturers; it was thought to have been derived from "Military Railway Service", the USATC unit that operated them. However, Stefan Nicolaï has found that the designation "MRS-1" appears on the cover of EMD's operating manual for these locomotives, where it appears as "Military Road Switcher MRS-1".
United States Army Transportation Corps
The Transportation Corps was established 31 July 1942 by Executive Order 9082. The Transportation Corps is a combat service support branch of the U.S. Army, and was headquartered at Fort Eustis, Virginia, but has now moved to Fort Lee, Virginia. The Transportation Corps is responsible for the...
(USATC) in 1952. They were built with multigauge
Rail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
trucks and to a narrow loading gauge
Loading gauge
A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
for service anywhere in the world in the event of war. Thirteen of the locomotives were built, with serial numbers 15873–15885. At almost $500,000 each in 1952 dollars,
more than three times the price of a standard locomotive of the period,
these were very expensive locomotives.
Declared un-needed for wartime operations in about 1970, they were then used on various military bases around the United States, with some serving on the Alaska Railroad
Alaska Railroad
The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad which extends from Seward and Whittier, in the south of the state of Alaska, in the United States, to Fairbanks , and beyond to Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright in the interior of that state...
. Five locomotives are preserved, three currently in operating condition.
Development
The Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and the intensification of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
at the beginning of the 1950s caused the USATC to consider what it might need for a new land war in Europe.
They came up with a requirement for a locomotive capable of running on the existing tracks of a wide variety of railway systems. Key parts of the specification included adjustable-gauge
Rail gauge
Track gauge or rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the heads of the two load bearing rails that make up a single railway line. Sixty percent of the world's railways use a standard gauge of . Wider gauges are called broad gauge; smaller gauges, narrow gauge. Break-of-gauge refers...
trucks
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
, compact bodywork to fit restrictive loading gauge
Loading gauge
A loading gauge defines the maximum height and width for railway vehicles and their loads to ensure safe passage through bridges, tunnels and other structures...
s, replaceable coupler
Coupler
Coupler is a word used to describe any of a number of things:* A railway coupling device;** A Janney coupler;* An electronic device, more properly, an acoustic coupler;* A telecommunications device known as a directional coupler;...
s to fit a variety of systems, and a power output of 1600 hp. The trucks' wheelsets adjusted between standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
and 5 ft 6 in (1676 mm), which encompasses the vast majority of the broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
s in use worldwide, including those of the then Soviet Union (1520 mm) and the Iberian peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
(1668 mm).
The specification was put out to tender, and two companies responded; GM and GE
Gê
Gê are the people who spoke Ge languages of the northern South American Caribbean coast and Brazil. In Brazil the Gê were found in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Piaui, Mato Grosso, Goias, Tocantins, Maranhão, and as far south as Paraguay....
. Both companies were given contracts to produce a batch of thirteen locomotives which would be evaluated by the USATC; the vendor providing the better locomotive would then produce the rest of the required locomotives.
Both manufacturers delivered their sample batch in 1952, and after testing the GE locomotives, which were actually produced by Alco as a subcontractor, were declared the winner, and a further batch of 70 Alco MRS-1
ALCO MRS-1
The ALCO MRS-1 is a type of diesel-electric locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company for the United States Army Transportation Corps...
locomotives were ordered. No more EMD locomotives were built.
As delivered, they were painted in gloss black with white numbering and lettering. They were numbered as 1808–1820 in US Army service.
Military service
The initial fate of most of the MRS-1 locomotives was to be placed in storage at the USATC's Transportation Materiel CommandTransportation Materiel Command
The Transportation Materiel Command was a unit of the US Army, originally headquartered in Marietta, Pennsylvania. In March 1955, it merged with the Transportation Corps Army Aviation Field Service Office to form the Transportation Supply and Maintenance Command headquartered in St...
facility at Marietta, Pennsylvania
Marietta, Pennsylvania
Marietta is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,689 at the 2000 census. It is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River just north of Columbia.-Geography:Marietta is located at ....
awaiting a war to use them in; they had not been purchased for peacetime use. These brand-new locomotives, with at most a couple of weeks' actual use, sat preserved until approximately 1970, when the Pentagon concluded that their plans for a future, large-scale land war no longer included the capture and use of the enemy's railway system.
Thus the 96 locomotives were redundant for their original purpose. Many of the units were taken out of storage and assigned to various military installations around the country, where locomotives of that size and power were required. Five EMD MRS-1s were sent to the Naval Ammunition Depot in Hawthorne, Nevada
Hawthorne, Nevada
Hawthorne is a census-designated place in Mineral County, Nevada, United States. The population was 3,311 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mineral County...
(now the Hawthorne Army Depot
Hawthorne Army Depot
Hawthorne Army Depot is a U.S. Army ammunition storage site located near the town of Hawthorne in western Nevada in the United States. It is directly south of Walker Lake. The depot covers and has storage space in 2,427 bunkers...
), but were unsuccessful there and placed into storage.
Cold-weather testing
Unit #1820 was not placed into storage; instead, it was used initially for cold-weather testing. It was broken in on the Belt Railway of ChicagoBelt Railway of Chicago
The Belt Railway of Chicago , headquartered in Chicago, is the largest switching terminal railroad in the United States. It is co-owned by six Class I railroads — BNSF Railway, Canadian National Railway, Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union...
, and in November 1952 the locomotive was shipped to the Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
for testing on the Hudson Bay Railway
Hudson Bay Railway
Hudson Bay Railway is a Canadian railway operating over of trackage in northern Manitoba.HBRY was formed in July 1997 to purchase former Canadian National Railway trackage running north from CN trackage at The Pas, MB on two branches, one to Flin Flon, MB and on to Lynn Lake, MB, the other to...
between The Pas
The Pas, Manitoba
The Pas is a town in Manitoba, Canada, located in Division No. 21, Manitoba in the Northern Region, some 630 kilometres northwest of the provincial capital, Winnipeg, near the border of Saskatchewan. It is sometimes still called Paskoyac by locals as the first trading post was called Fort Paskoyac...
and Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" that has helped its growing tourism industry.-History:A variety of nomadic...
, where it became the first diesel locomotive to operate on that line. In May 1953, the locomotive returned to the BRC's shops in Chicago where it was stripped down and examined for abnormal wear from the cold weather, which was not found. The locomotive was then used at Fort Eustis for regular service and training.
Unit #1909 was also sent for cold-weather testing, in this case to the Alaska Railroad
Alaska Railroad
The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad which extends from Seward and Whittier, in the south of the state of Alaska, in the United States, to Fairbanks , and beyond to Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright in the interior of that state...
for a 3-year trial period. Shipped back in 1955, its engine was rebored to a larger size and slightly greater power output, then placed into storage. In 1969 it was reactivated and sent to the Vandenberg Air Force Base
Vandenberg Air Force Base
Vandenberg Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base, located approximately northwest of Lompoc, California. It is under the jurisdiction of the 30th Space Wing, Air Force Space Command ....
for service hauling supplies for the proposed Manned Orbiting Laboratory
Manned Orbiting Laboratory
The Manned Orbiting Laboratory , originally referred to as the Manned Orbital Laboratory, was part of the United States Air Force's manned spaceflight program, a successor to the cancelled Boeing X-20 Dyna-Soar military reconnaissance space plane project...
and components for Titan
Titan (rocket family)
Titan was a family of U.S. expendable rockets used between 1959 and 2005. A total of 368 rockets of this family were launched, including all the Project Gemini manned flights of the mid-1960s...
launch vehicles.
European testing
Locomotive #1818 was fitted with European buffers and couplers very soon after delivery and sent to Europe for Army testing and training and secondarily as an EMD demonstrator. It ran extensively on the Deutsche BundesbahnDeutsche Bundesbahn
The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany on September 7, 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft '...
(DB) and proved quite successful, although the DB preferred German-designed diesel-hydraulic locomotives. Subsequently, it tested on both SNCF
SNCF
The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...
(France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) and NMBS/SNCB (Belgium), in the latter case successfully for GM-EMD since the NMBS/SNCB subsequently purchased EMD-licensed NOHAB
NOHAB
NOHAB was a manufacturing company in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden.The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 as Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad as a manufacturer of turbines for hydraulic power plants...
locomotives.
Alaska Railroad
The 1952-1955 trial of #1809 was not the last appearance of an MRS-1 on Alaska RailroadAlaska Railroad
The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad which extends from Seward and Whittier, in the south of the state of Alaska, in the United States, to Fairbanks , and beyond to Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright in the interior of that state...
metals. In 1977, the five MRS-1 locomotives that had been unsuccessfully transferred to the Navy were moved to Alaska to join thirteen of their Alco cousins.
Preserved survivors
Five of the thirteen EMD MRS-1 locomotives built survive in preservation.Of these, two (#1809
and #1820)
are in operation at the San Diego Railroad Museum; #1811 is on display at the US Army Transportation Museum at Fort Eustis, Virginia; #1813 is in operation at the Heber Valley Historic Railroad
Heber Valley Historic Railroad
The Heber Valley Historic Railroad is a heritage railroad based in Heber City, Utah. It operates passenger excursion trains along a line between Heber City and Vivian Park, which is located in Provo Canyon. The HVRR carries over 94,000 passengers a year....
; and #1818 is preserved at the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry in Wasilla, Alaska
Wasilla, Alaska
Wasilla is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, United States and the sixth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the state. The city's population was 7,831 at the 2010 census...
. Update(11/27/10)Photo found online shows #1718 on display in Wasilla Alaska http://donsdepot.donrossgroup.net/dr0604/arr1718.jpg
Spotting features
Long hood
The long hood of a hood unit-style diesel locomotive is, as the name implies, the longer of the two hoods on a locomotive.-Equipment:...
roof on the EMD locomotives, and the radiator intakes on the sides of the long hood end, which have outside shutters on the Alco locomotives. In addition, the short hood
Short hood
The short hood of a hood unit-style diesel locomotive is, as the name implies, the shorter of the two hoods on a locomotive...
is visibly lower than the long hood, thanks to the long hood's peaked roof; on the ALCO units, the two are the same height. The frame side sills are also different; the Alco's are straight from front to rear, while the EMD's step down towards each end of the locomotive.
Naming
For a long while it was believed that "MRS-1" was an invented railfanRailfan
A railfan or rail buff , railway enthusiast or railway buff , or trainspotter , is a person interested in a recreational capacity in rail transport...
name, since it did not appear to have been the official model name in documentation from the USATC or the manufacturers; it was thought to have been derived from "Military Railway Service", the USATC unit that operated them. However, Stefan Nicolaï has found that the designation "MRS-1" appears on the cover of EMD's operating manual for these locomotives, where it appears as "Military Road Switcher MRS-1".
External links
- Tour of an MRS-1 in detail photographs, from the San Diego Railroad Museum.