By Justin Franz 

Genesee Valley Transportation has purchased one of the only surviving American Locomotive Company PAs, “Nickel Plate Road 190,” which has been restored to near-operating condition in Portland, Ore., by preservationist Doyle McCormack.

The deal was completed this week and the locomotive will soon be relocated across the country to Scranton, Pa., where GVT’s Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad maintains a fleet of Alco and MLW locomotives. In some ways, the move to Pennsylvania is a homecoming for 190, which was built for Santa Fe but became famous as Delaware & Hudson 18, one of four PAs owned by the eastern road in the 1960s and 1970s.

On Thursday morning, GVT officials likened the acquisition of PA 190 to buying the plane of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to obtain the Spirit of St. Louis of locomotives,” said Michael Thomas, president of GVT Rail. “On behalf of our ownership group and the entire team at GVT Rail, we are ecstatic that Doyle has entrusted us with the stewardship of his great gift to rail preservation.”

ABOVE: While it was built for Santa Fe, locomotive 18 and its three sisters didn’t become famous until they were purchased by the Delaware & Hudson in the late 1960s. The locomotive’s last act in the U.S. before heading south to Mexico in 1978, was working in commuter service out of Boston. —Photo by Jim Boyd, WRP Collection

GVT officials said its shop crews will evaluate the locomotive when it arrives in Scranton in the coming weeks and figure out exactly what needs to be done to make it operational. Once 190 is put into service, it will lead excursions in Northeastern Pennsylvania, including on former D&H trackage operated by DL.

The locomotive was built for Santa Fe in 1948 as 62L and sold to D&H in 1967, where it was used to power passenger trains between Albany and Montreal, as well as excursions across the system. In 1977, the Alcos had a brief stint in commuter service in Boston for Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority before being shipped to Mexico in 1978. The PAs were used in Mexico for a few years but were eventually retired. Two of the PAs remain south of the border in museums.

In 2000, McCormack — perhaps best known as the caretaker for Southern Pacific 4-8-4 “Daylight” 4449 — teamed up with Smithsonian Curator of Technology and Transportation Bill Withuhn to bring two of the PAs home to the United States — or at least what was left of them. That year the skeletons of D&H 16 and 18 headed north to Oregon. The remains of 16 eventually went to the Museum of the American Railroad in Texas, which is currently working on a cosmetic restoration of the locomotive into its original Santa Fe appearance.

ABOVE: For the last two decades, Doyle McCormack has restored former Delaware & Hudson 18 from a wrecked skeleton to an almost operational Alco PA. McCormack is seen painting the lettering on NKP 190 in April 2014. —Photo by Justin Franz

D&H 18 was moved to Portland’s Brooklyn Yard and later the Oregon Rail Heritage Center where for the last two decades, McCormack has been spearheading its restoration in his spare time. McCormack acquired a set of A1A trucks to replace the ones that had been lost in Mexico and purchased a wrecked BC Rail M420B to harvest its 12-251C engine, traction motors and electrical system to be installed in the PA.

When it came time to paint the PA, McCormack drew inspiration from his childhood. His father worked for the NKP and when McCormack was 12 he got a cab ride on the original 190. He said he became fascinated with the PAs, and specifically 190, so painting his locomotive into the blue and white of the NKP was a no brainer.

“When I got the engine, it needed a paint job, and I figured I’d put it in my paint job: I needed a Nickel Plate fix,” McCormack said in a 2014 interview. “You know how kids are, they get obsessed with something and, well, I never let that obsession go.”

ABOVE: In the spring of 2014, Nickel Plate Road 190 was far enough along that it was able to attend “Streamliners at Spencer,” a gathering of two dozen streamlined diesel locomotives at the North Carolina Transportation Museum. The locomotive is seen heading east through Whitefish, Mont., on a BNSF Railway manifest on May 14, 2014. The locomotive will likely follow the same route in the coming weeks. —Photo by Justin Franz

By 2014, the locomotive was far enough along that it was able to attend “Streamliners at Spencer” in North Carolina. Upon returning to Portland, McCormack continued to work on the locomotive. While 190 has been started up, it has not yet run under its own power.

Charlie Monte Verde, GVT’s vice president of strategic planning, said the railroad had been in talks with McCormack for a few years about possibly bringing the streamlined Alco “home” to the Northeast.

“We appreciate Mr. McCormack’s efforts and vision in returning the locomotive to the U.S. and are honored that he chose ‘The ALCO Road’ for the PA’s permanent home,” Monte Verde said. “We look forward to a day in the very near future when the PA makes her first main line run in more than four decades, on home rails, with Mr. McCormack at the throttle.”

ABOVE: Delaware & Hudson Alco PA 18 pauses with a fan trip at Green Ridge, Pa., which is the location of GVT’s new Von Storch Diesel Shop. —GVT Collection