BATAVIA, N.Y. — Genesee Valley Transportation has sold two Alco RS3 locomotives to heritage railway Saratoga Corinth & Hudson, the two operations announced today (Aug. 2).
Locomotives No. 4103 and 4118, which wore the same numbers with the Delaware & Hudson, were purchased from the Octoraro Railroad and rebuilt at Genesee Valley’s South Scranton Shop. They had been relegated to standby status after serving GVT’s Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad in general freight service, while increasing business at the Saratoga Corinth & Hudson meant that railroad needed locomotives with additional tractive effort.
“Because of their historic nature, we would not sell these locomotives to just any operator,” Genesee Valley Transportation Chairman David Monte Verde said in a press release. “We feel the SC&H will give these locomotives a good home and maintain their historic status well into the future. They are in good hands.”
The Saratoga Corinth & Hudson, based in Corinth, N.Y., operates a variety of excursions on a 12-mile segment of the former D&H Adirondack Branch.
“We are honored to bring these locomotives home to the Adirondack Branch,” H.T. Raven, president of the Saratoga Corinth & Hudson, said in a post on the railroad’s Facebook page. “We expect both locomotives to be in service for the remainder of the fall season. We thank our friends at Genesee Valley Transportation Co. for making this possible.”
Genesee Valley Transportation operates five railroads in New York and northeastern Pennsylvania. It is now the sole American operator of Alco and Montreal Locomotive Works six-motor diesels, with four active. The company’s roster also includes five M636 locomotives acquired from the Western New York & Pennsylvania. It also recently acquired a former Canadian National MLW M420, giving it an active fleet of three of those units.
GVT made headlines in preservation circles last year when it acquired the Alco PA locomotive owned by preservationist Doyle McCormack [see “Genesee Valley Transportation acquires PA …,” Trains News Wire, March 2, 2023]. That unit is undergoing restoration to operating condition and will be used on the company’s business train.
