By the late 1960’s, ALCo was in bad shap with little market share left. The formerly dominant steam locomotive builder had seen it’s early success in the diesel era with the RS locomotive series dwindle as EMD and GE split the majority of the diesel market. The Century Series of locomotives was ALCo’s last attempt to turn the tide. The most powerful of these was the C- 636. Powered by a 16 cylinder ALCo 251 prime mover, it produced 3600 horsepower.  The locomotive had a C-C wheel arrangement of a pair of new high adhesion “ Hi-Ad” trucks.

While the C-636 was a powerful locomotive with new features, it suffered significant issues in testing by both the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. These issues were addressed, but the damage was done and only 34 units were built for United States railroads between 1967 & 1968. These units did go on to successful service lives and some made it into the 2010’s. The C-636 was almost as successful in the Australian market as it had been in the U.S. market with 29 units built by AE Goodwin. Montreal Locomotive Works also built the M-636 variant for Canadian operators with a number of these units remaining in service into the 2010’s. In the end, the Century Series of locomotives were enough to save ALCo, as the once great manufacturer closed U.S. operations in 1969.

Features:

• Fully assembled and ready to run
• Flywheels
• RP-25 wheel flanges
• Kadee metal couplers
• Railroad specific details
• Flashing beacon when appropriate
• DCC Ready or DCC w/Sound versions
• DCC Ready versions include 21 pin plug for easy DCC installation - DCC non sound Decoder - ESU #53614
• DCC w/Sound versions feature LokSound Select decoder
• Locos with sound have the class lights over the number boards individually controlled and in color. Press F-5 to cycle through the colors (Red, White and Green)