Peoria & Pekin Union RR Alco Builders Photo

VERY RARE! 1930s Diesel Locomotive #100

Up  for auction is a very rare, perfect condition original Alco American Locomotive Company (ALCO)  Builders photograph.   The HH600 model was produced between 1932 and 1939, in that 7 year period ALCO made only 78 total of these diesel locomotives.  The P&PU purchased only ONE of these engines, the #100 was built in 1936  but more importantly it is the vanguard for a successful generation of ALCO diesel switchers.   The detail and clarity in this 90 year old photograph is sharp and may well have been a "contact print" of the negative,  without any fading and is amazing!   I cannot say for sure if there are more than one of these builder photographs produced but this must have been in storage out of sun light. As a comparison I have included recent auction sales ( hammer price without 25% buyers fee ) to show authenticity that it is in an ALCO frame and style.  Between 1925 and 1930 my Loco Cyclopedia shows only 44 total "oil-electric" locomotives.

 Please feel free to contact me with any questions.   I will pack well protected and ship FedEx Ground in lower 48 USA for flat $49.00   Contact me for other shipping options.  Thank you for looking !  

 

ADDITIONAL INFO FROM  INTERNET REGARDING THE ABOVE

The Peoria and Pekin Union Railway (reporting mark PPU) is a switching and terminal railroad in Illinois that began operating in 1881 and was leased to the Tazewell and Peoria Railroad in 2004. Its main yard and roundhouse are in East Peoria, Illinois, and it owns track on both sides of the Illinois River. The company also owns a rail bridge over the river.

Most railways are regional and do not own track all the way across the nation, so their lines end at some point. Since the late 19th century, many railways have chosen to end their lines near Peoria, Illinois. When a train car reaches the end of one rail line, it must be switched to a different line in order to continue on to its destination. P&PU engines are responsible for picking up the cars at the end of other railways' lines and bringing them back to the main yard in East Peoria. Employees then sort the cars based on which railway will take them to their next stop. After these new trains have been formed, P&PU engines take the cars to the beginning of that rail line where they will continue their journey. That company's engines then pick up the cars and take them to their destination.

By 1944, the P&PU was switching 14 major railways that ran into Peoria, an unusually high number of railways for a city the size of Peoria. The P&PU currently switches trains for 8 other railways, handles over 170,000 cars per year, and is owned jointly by the Canadian National Railway, Norfolk Southern Railway, and Union Pacific Railroad.

 

The HH600's were powered by 6-cylinder McIntosh & Seymour 531 engines of 600 hp (450 kW). They were built from July 1932 through May 1939; in all, 78 HH600s were constructed. The first-built units had sharp-edged front hood corners, but in 1934 ALCO employed industrial designer Otto Kuhler to clean up the appearance; he curved the corners and recessed the headlight, and all subsequent HH series units were of this style until another restyling in 1938 where the nose was further rounded. Late versions of this locomotive used the 6-cylinder 538 engine.