Sunday's afternoon trains had some special BIG boy toys up front at the Orange Empire Ry Museum. Both these units were US Army units built by the ALCo as RSD-1s at the start of WWII to fit through tight tunnels in the rest of the world. At least one immediately served in the middle east. They are now numbered OERM 1956 and 1975.

They are on the far south end of the remaining California Southern Railroad mainline. The story of this railroad is pretty amazing. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California ... n_Railroad

http://www.thedieselshop.us shows 9 RSD-1s remaining. How many run?

Also check out the vintage video of one of these Alco's (not OERM's) doing what it was built for:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQAf7H38b6Y

Marty Bernard
Perris, CA

TVRM 8677 is operable and 8669 is close, but hasn't run in a year due to an electrical bug.

Do these RSD-1's have adjustable trucks for the varying rail gauges around the world like the MRS-1's have?

Marty -

Nice shots. But do you have any of the OERM RSD-1's that aren't taken from the side? As I remember it, the U.S. Army units meant for overseas during the Second World War had "sloped" side cabs to fit in tight places. But not all of the RSD-1's built had these special cabs. Some were constructed (or modified) with the regular Alco cabs. A front or 3/4 view could tell us about these units at Orange Empire. Of course, I may be remembering this wrong. Thanks.

Les

Nope. See March and April 1980 Trains Magazine for more on these locos.

The cabs have the sloped sides (window area) and matching doors making them a bit of a pain to get in and out of.

The 1956 was DOT 012 and 1975 was DOT 015. Both obtained for utility purposes from the DOT facility at Pueblo though government surplus program. So, in time, first 012 was repainted to Orange Empire and then 015 got a quicker paint job. The paper trail and s/n for DOT 012 goes back to one of the pre-war B-B units that were requisitioned by the government and converted for overseas use.

The numbers commemorate the year the museum was incorporated (1956) and the year of the merger of California Southern RR Museum into Orange Empire Trolley Museum creating Orange Empire Railway Museum (1975).

PS Nice photos Marty! The south end gets away from all the nearby housing.