One of a Kind
A visit to Canadian Pacific’s Toronto Yard in Agincourt, Ontario brought my only encounter with the one and only MLW M640. This 4000-horsepower monster, by 1971 standards, which was equipped with an 18-cylinder engine, was the embodiment of a design developed at Alco before its 1969 shutdown.
This unit also has the distinction of being North America’s first DC-AC conversion in the mid-1980’s, predating the programmatic conversions of this type by decades. The 1000-horsepower AC traction motors used obviated the need for six powered axles, so the converted locomotive had an A1A-A1A configuration. This view from the rear, necessitated due to it being nose-coupled in an engine terminal, shows the radiator section, which has an uncanny similarity to the radiator section of many modern GE locomotives. Today, the unit is preserved at Exporail.
One of a Kind
A visit to Canadian Pacific’s Toronto Yard in Agincourt, Ontario brought my only encounter with the one and only MLW M640. This 4000-horsepower monster, by 1971 standards, which was equipped with an 18-cylinder engine, was the embodiment of a design developed at Alco before its 1969 shutdown.
This unit also has the distinction of being North America’s first DC-AC conversion in the mid-1980’s, predating the programmatic conversions of this type by decades. The 1000-horsepower AC traction motors used obviated the need for six powered axles, so the converted locomotive had an A1A-A1A configuration. This view from the rear, necessitated due to it being nose-coupled in an engine terminal, shows the radiator section, which has an uncanny similarity to the radiator section of many modern GE locomotives. Today, the unit is preserved at Exporail.