Genesee Valley Transportation has announced the sale of their two ex-D&H RS-3s, 4103 and 4118, to the Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson, who operates a segment of the old D&H Adirondack Branch out of Corinth, NY.

https://www.gvtrail.com/genesee-valley- ... comotives/

Hi Guys, What is the status of the other GVT RS3's, including the parts units and the CNJ 1554? Is there a long term plan for operation or are they being phased out? Thanks - David Notarius

From what I understand, they still have two operational RS-3s, CNJ 1554 and D&H 4068, and at least two parts RS-3s. But the operational ones have been mostly stored. Internet hearsay says that, along with the challenges of keeping 244-powered Alcos running in everyday freight service, crews didn't really like operating them, and at 1600hp it takes four of them to do what two of the M630s or M636s can do.

The 4118 has arrived at Saratoga Springs and the 4103 is expected to arrive sometime this week. SC&H is planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate their arrival on Saturday, August 24th at 9:30am

A Marc Glucksman video made on August 25, 2024:
The Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson Railway's 'New' Pair of Alco RS3s

I wouldn’t like operating them either if I was always running them backwards. Not sure about the CNJ RS-3, but the three D&H ones are configured to run long hood forward (SC&H confirmed this when they took ownership). I get wanting better visibility, but not at the expense of operational comfort.

Are the RS3’s parked somewhere that they can be viewed without trespassing?

Not when SC&H isn't open. They're parked up kind of in the middle of the woods in Corinth, where the siding is that SC&H operates out of. There's a gate that is locked and closed on days when they aren't operating.

Man, I love the sound of those old Alco RS3s being put back into action though. Real beasts of a different era. Running them hood forward's real weird, maybe an operational necessity? Regardless, I'll try to show up at the ribbon-cutting. Getting a good photo without the trespass hassle is a bonus, gotta feed the Insta followers, amirite?

I can't speak for these exact units but it was fairly common early in the diesel era to run long hood forward for crew safety reasons. Also it mimicked how steam locomotives ran.

Just about every Alco RS-1, RS-2, RS-3 were built to operate long hood forward-- the engineer's control stand was on the right hand side of the cab with the long hood forward.

Howard P.

You'll have to try real hard, considering the ribbon-cutting ceremony was almost a month ago (August 24th). It was a very nice event though, they had D&H veteran Bill Bibby there giving a speech and talking about growing up along the Adirondack Branch and seeing the RS-3s all the time. And after the excursion was over, Hal Raven was letting people climb up on the RS-3s and tour them and take photos. And the RS-3s, along with earlier Alco road switchers, along with a lot of GP7s and GP9s, were configured from the factory to run long hood forward.