Alco FA duties in the 50's

[Will Ayerst]

I have read a quote regarding the FT's as such:

The Rock Island took delivery of 8 A-B-A sets of Alcos in September and October of 1948. They were placed in service with high-priority freight on the Kansas City-St Louis and Memphis-Amarillo mainlines. The FA-1s were originally numbered 145 through 160, and the FB-1s were 145B through 152B.

So, it's safe to assume that they were on this service for a while, but what was their disposition after that, what did they do? They were repowered with EMD motors to become FA/B-1m's too - were there any external changes?

[Triplex]

The MKT's EMD-repowered FAs ended up with bulging rooflines, and I'm sure the Rock Island's would've had them as well. Think about Christina - EMD prime movers and associated equipment were too large to fit in those Alco carbodies.

[mikado]

Here's what one FA-2 was doing in March 1966. Leading train #22 into Memphis, Tn.
http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/data/500/ROCK_ISLAND_22.jpg Tn.

[AFN]

Some received Blomberg trucks and lost the grillwork around the headlight. Of course the main spotting feature would be the twin exhaust stacks on the roof. As with Rock Island practice there would be no dynamic brake detail on the roofs.

[wig-wag-trains.com]

As AFN said, the only roof difference was the exhaust stacks. No bulge as on Christine.