| Monon C628 408 at Pullman Junction on the south side of Chicago, Illinois on April 20, 1965, Kodachrome by Chuck Zeiler. Number 408 was built in April 1964 (c/n 84911). When Alco introduced the Century series on January 29, 1963, they offered three models: the C420, C424, and the C624. No C624's were built, since just a few months later, Alco unveiled the new 251C 16-cylinder diesel, rated at 2750 horsepower for traction, and with it, the C628, which was formally announced August 23, 1963. The 251C was equipped with a higher capacity Model 800 turbocharger and improved exhaust manifold piping. Unfortunately, the weight (about 400,000 pounds) and long rigid wheelbase of the nine C628's (#'s 400-408) built for Monon in early 1964 were hard on the track, and by August 1967 all of Monon's C628's were traded back to Alco for C420's. The traded C628's were refurbished and sold to Lehigh Valley (#'s 633-641, later Conrail #'s 6729-6737). |