Do you remember: The 4-S?

Prince Rupert, January 1958. Do you remember it? I remember seeing photos of this locomotive in Railroad magazine during my formative “oil-electric” days.

This company was founded in 1938 down in Pascagoula Mississippi. They were best known for the civilian and naval vessels they built. But apparently in the early 1950’s, someone somewhere deep in the bowels of corporate got the bright idea: “Hey! With the building boom in the locomotive market going on, let’s grab a piece of the pie!”

Unfortunately the locomotive market was not an easy market to enter. There was fierce competition with folks who had been around the railroads for some time. And so it was not to be. Despite creating an impressive catalog of horsepower with various configurations, only a solitary demonstrator was built.

Severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Ingalls Shipbuilding, now Northrop Grumman Corporation, is fully recovered and doing what they do best … building commercial vessels and navy ships and offshore drill rigs.

Their one and only locomotive, the Ingalls 4-S, going to the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Railroad.

Railroad Stuff: Gulf Mobile & Ohio 1900, built by Ingalls Shipbuilding as model 4-S, 1,500hp, 1946. Superior 8 cylinder inline prime mover. Traded to EMD in 1967. Ended up down the road at Pielet Brothers bone yard.