ALCO 244

The ALCO 244 was a diesel prime mover built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO). An evolution of the earlier 241 diesel engine, it powered ALCO's first generation of production road locomotives. The 244 engine was developed to create an engine capable of being used in railroad freight and passenger locomotives. The 244 engine was also used in a very limited basis as a marine power plant in ships and as a stationary power generator.

In early 1944, with the 241 engine undergoing testing, design work began on the 244; later that year, ALCO management appropriated the program separate funding, and subsequently chose to commit to bringing the 244 to production as soon as possible, dropping plans to use the 241 in commercial service. Alco management was very disappointed with the progress of the 241 engine tests at Auburn. Alco created a new diesel engine engineering team at Schenectady, New York and began a new diesel engine design. This new diesel engine was called the 244 and it would have the same 9 inch by 10.5 inch bore and stroke as the 241 engine. To avoid the problems caused by the expensive to build 241 engine, the 244 was rushed into production at Auburn, New York without an extensive and lengthy testing process. Alco began negotiations with the government to purchase buildings 144, 145, and 149 at Schenectady, New York. These buildings were built in 1941 for war production. Alco needed these additional facilities to begin diesel engine and diesel locomotive manufacturing at Schenectady.

Initially, major differences between the 241 and 244 included an engine block modified for mass production, redesigned connecting rods, and redesigned main bearings. Based on testing of the 241, General Electric redesigned their turbocharger used on the engine. In August 1945, the first completed engines were released for testing. The first Auburn built 12V-244 engine was shipped to Schenectady on October 22, 1945. The second engine followed on November 13th. One of these engines was put on a 600 hour test inside Building 37 at Schenectady. The test started on November 23rd and concluded on December 17th with six shutdowns to fix minor problems. Positive test results were reported at an Alco sales meeting conducted December 17th through 20th. Production of the first FA-1s and FB-1 commenced before the testing of the 244 engine was completed.

The first 12-cylinder 244 engines destined for commercial service in the FA freight locomotives were completed in January 1946, followed in June by the first 16-cylinder versions for the PA passenger locomotives. Friday January 4, 1946 was the date the demonstrators were photographed at Alco's Schenectady Assembly Plant. The demonstrators units were released for testing on the D&H Railroad on Wednesday January 9, 1946. In mid-1946, the cast iron crankshafts used in the initial run of engines were replaced with a new forged steel crankshaft.

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