LRSX MK model TE-47-4E started life as an Alco S2 built in 1944 for the Manufacturers Railway. Into the late 1970's MRS looked to update it's aging fleet of Alco S2 and S4 models. In 1978, MRS S2 208 was chosen for the first rebuild project and sent to Morrison Knudsen in Boise, Idaho. There the unit was stripped down to the frame, everything but the cab was removed, an EMD 12 cylinder 567C engine and components were used along with up to date electrical systems. A major advance was the addition of a 26L brake system. The Alco Blunt Style trucks were replaced with the more common AAR standard switcher frames which accepted standard 40" wheels and D77 traction motors. When all was said and done, 253 was basically an SW1200 internally. After the rebuild was completed and the 253 was returned, MRS deemed that secondhand SW1500s was the cheapest and more economical way to meet and improve their motive power needs therefore the TE-47-4E project was never repeated. The MK locomotive designation breakdown is as follows, (TE-47=Tractive Effort 47,000lbs, 4=Four powered axles, E=EMD) After life at MRS, 253 was sold to Foster Townsend Rail Logistics where it worked not far from it's original home in Granite City, Illinois. The 253 was sold once more to Liberty Railway Services, a Colorado based railroad contractor. This one and only switcher now spends it's time in lease service where needed, it's last assignment which finished in mid January of this year was with Henkels & McCoy who used the 253 as they laid fiber optics on the northern segments of Georgia Northeastern. This one of-a-kind unit is seen here in Marietta, Georgia on the night of March 24, 2017 awaiting shipment back to LRSX. Nº253 is definitely a treat for those Diesel Spotters.
