Designated as a “DL721” by ALCo, the 2,000hp RS-32 was intended to compete with EMD’s GP20 and GE’s U25B locomotives. Only 35 units were produced, with 25 units ordered by New York Central in 1961 and 10 units by Southern Pacific in 1962. New York Central’s RS-32s were commonly seen in both road and local freight assignments. Southern Pacific’s units were initially used in road service, but later settled into local freight service in San Francisco’s “commute” territory. Here they were sometimes called upon to rescue stalled commuter trains. They later migrated across the system, ending their SP careers in Texas during the late 1970s with various other ALCo models.
Designated as a “DL701” by ALCo, the 1,800hp RS-36 was only slightly more successful than the RS32, with a total of 40 units produced between 1961 and 1963. Interestingly the DL701 designation was also used for the RS-11 locomotive, and this has been the cause of some confusion when tallying fleet rosters. The largest purchaser of RS36s was Delaware & Hudson with a total of 12 units. These units served the D&H well, operating in road and local freight service through the 1980s. A few units even lasted into the 1990s holding yard and local assignments, serving their original owner for nearly 30 years. Norfolk & Western eventually amassed a larger fleet than the D&H, with the acquisition of Nickel Plate’s 11 units, giving N&W a total fleet of 17 units (some with high short hoods). Other original owners included Tennessee Central, Apache, Atlantic & Danville and Chicago & North Western (single unit order).
Given their very low production numbers, it is interesting to note that a handful of RS-32 and RS-36 locomotives can still be found in service today on a few US shortlines and tourist railroads.
