Talk:American Locomotive Company

suggestions
The UP844 might merit a mention in the steam section, since it's one of the most famous steam locomotives. It also has it's own page. ALCO is a significant player in the birth of the industrial age and I think the "low importance rating" for the wikiproject thing needs changed. This article is of great relevance to U.S. and World history. The ALCO legacy is probably rarely equaled.

Untitled
once the article for vanderbilt cup is created, please add this external link to it. thanks, Kingturtle 05:49, 25 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Alco vs. ALCO vs. ALCo
Every reference that I've seen for the shortened company name uses either "Alco" or "ALCO". Please provide a reputable reference before changing the shortened name to "ALCo" again. slambo 12:02, 15 November 2005 (UTC)


 * I can't personally recall seeing it as ALCo in official company documentation. ALCO more common earlier on, Alco more common later, I feel, but both seem officially valid.  I think ALCo is (more common as) a railfan affectation. Matthew Brown 14:15, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

I beleive either spelling is correct, ALCO, because its an Acrynym, ALCo, because it is the American Locomotive Company, Co meaning Company, Alco, because it has become a word in railfan jargon. Alexander101010 20:35, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

I support Alex's view. 'ALCo' is correctly shortened form for American Locomotive Company, both because the 'o' is the only letter not capitalized in the full name and because of the aforementioned 'Co' for 'company'. YamahaFreak 23:28, 28 October 2010 (UTC)

Instead of trying to guess the correct style, let's have a look at actual usage. Newspapers, such as the New York Times, use ALCO or Alco. Trains magazine, the leading generalist magazine on railroading, uses Alco. The company itself used both ALCO and Alco in its advertisements. The main historical group centered on the American Locomotive Company uses ALCO. Just about the only potentially authoritative source I could find using ALCo is Albert Churella, a noted railroad historian. Given all that, it's clear ALCo is a far less common usage, and not the one we should standardize on. Any thoughts on ALCO vs. Alco? PRRfan (talk) 23:01, 12 July 2023 (UTC)

Russian Decapod
The Russian Decapods were made during WWI for the Tsar. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.21.193.180 (talk) 17:22, 5 January 2015 (UTC)

Chrysler?
In reading about Chrysler elsewhere, it sounds like he worked on trains for Alco, not cars as implied in this article.

Vanderbilt Cup Races

Walter Chrysler

I see that there is one reference to this too that says that this is not contained in Chrysler's autobiography.

"According to one report, during many of the years the Alco automobile was made, the plant manager in Providence was Walter Chrysler, who later founded the Chrysler Corporation. If this story is true, Chrysler gained his first automotive manufacturing experience with Alco but Chrysler's autobiography makes no mention of it so there is substantial doubt."

I wonder whether that "report" was from this Wikipedia article.

Studebaker and the Railroads - Volume 2, By Jan Young ]

--100.4.149.120 (talk) 14:35, 10 December 2018 (UTC)

Why did it fail?
The article should, but doesn't, say why the company went out of business. Bad management? Obsolete products? Deliberate liquidation by a purchaser? Did too many things? deisenbe (talk) 01:16, 8 March 2022 (UTC)