Military Locos?

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 ALL

The diesel was sent to be used as the Durango yard switcher as a test.  I think Alco?GE were trying to interest the Rio Grande in buying locomotives [at that time the lines radiating from Durango were still fairly active with freight traffic] for the narrow gauge operation.  In addition, it gave the USATC an opportunity to test the locomotive at fairly high altitudes.  There are photos of the unit in sevice in Durango in at least a couple of books.

Jim Stapleton
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>>>>SNIP

One assignment about 1957 was to check a newly built diesel-elecrtic locomotive at the GE test track in Erie, PA.   This locomotive, which was destined for the Army Transportation Corps, was  designed to be a "universal" or "world" locomotive.  It had vacuum and air brakes, it had multiple coupling arrangements, and it could be converted for narrow, standard and wide gauges.  It also had an aluminum superstructure to keep the weight within the light loading gauge of foreign railroads.

Later I heard that the locomotive was in service on the D&RGW narrow gauge railroad in Colorado.  I don't know if the Army still owned the locomotive then, but if it did, it could be said that this was a case of an Army locomotive operating on a Class I railroad, although that may be stretching things a bit.

Gordon Hamilton