In the late 2000s, the motive power department got it into their heads that, since the railroad still had enough switching districts & low-density branches that didn’t need modern high-horsepower power, this might be a good time to stock up on used Alco power because (a) cheap, (b) easy for the TdM shops to maintain, (c) stingy fuel requirements for a post-ww2 diesel design, and (d) easy for ILW to replace the prime mover & generator when the day came that the regulators dropped the hammer on old polluting prime movers.
Feelers were put out to various locomotive brokers, and over the course of the next few years a largish pile of units – mainly RS-11 – were lined up for purchase, and in 2013 – after a frantic last minute rush to get units off Morristown & Erie property before the scrappers came in –a stream of units in various stages of repair started showing up on the deadline at St Jean-sur-Richelieu
| road number | number | class | model | type | builder | built | HP | originally | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1213-1214 | 2 | DL16c | RS-11m | DE | ALCO/ILW | 1956 | 2400 | DW&P #3605,3608 | Dofasco B trucks |
| 1215-1225 | 12 | DL16c | RS-11m | DE | ALCO/ILW | 1956 | 2400 | Erie Mining #301-303,305-309,311-314 | |
| 1226 | 1 | DL16c | RS-11m | DE | ALCO/ILW | 1959 | 2400 | SP #5856 | |
| 1227 | 1 | DL16c | RS-11m | DE | ALCO/ILW | 1960 | 2400 | SAL #102 | |
| 1228-1229 | 2 | DL16c | RS-11m | DE | ALCO/ILW | 1956 | 2400 | N&W #312,321 | |
| 1230 | 1 | DL16c | RS-11m | DE | ALCO/ILW | 1956 | 2400 | NKP #569 | |
| 1231-1232 | 2 | DL16c | RS-11m | DE | ALCO/ILW | 1958 | 2400 | NP #906,910 | |
| 1233 | 1 | DL16c | RS-11m | DE | ALCO/ILW | 1960 | 2400 | NP #318 | |
| 1234 | 1 | DL16c | RS-11m | DE | ALCO/ILW | 1956 | 2400 | GB&W #309 | |
| 1235-1236 | 2 | DL37 | “rs-29” | DE | ILW | 2013 | 3500 | NP #905-906 | (re)manufactured 2013 |
| 1279,1280 | 2 | DL39 | C-636 | DE | ALCO | 1967 | 3600 | ALCo demonstrators C636-2, C636-3 | |
| n/a | 2 | DL13 | C-424 | DE | MLW | 1963 | 2400 | CP #4231,4216 | gutted shells – stripped by thieves |
| n/a | 2 | DL13 | C-424 | DE | ALCO | 1963 | 2400 | GBW #320,321 | ex-LA&L parts units |
| n/a | 1 | DL24 | M-420 | DE | MLW | 1975 | 2000 | CN #3562 | |
| n/a | 1 | DL3 | RS-2 | DE | ALCO | 1950 | 1600 | GB&W #303 |
NP #905 & 906 were actually in the process of being cut when the sale went through, so they arrived at ILW as nothing more than sleds with cabs & short hood (they are now in service after remanufacturing with modern mechanical & electrical gear), and the C-636’s, C-424s C, M-420, and RS-2 had been pretty well stripped for parts/by thieves, so are scheduled to be rebuilt into eco-class machines as needed.
(This cost approximately US$2 million for the units, $2 million for transport, and another $10 million – so far – to get them back into working order, which is approximately 1/3rd the cost of a batch of new ILW eco units. Well worth it for branch and tertiary lines that see very little traffic!)