The Beer Railroad: The Elusive 253 Digging through old photos, it wasn't often that MRS 253 was spotted in the wild. It was rebuilt by Morrison-Knudson in 1978 from MRS ALCO S-2, #208. Although it was common power in it's early years, unlike the railroads un-rebuilt ALCO's, 253 was universally hated by the crews. Apparently it didn't pull well, was slippery on hills, and generally didn't act well when MUed with the MP15DCs. Thus, in later years, although a reliable unit, it was almost always leased out to local industries, such as ASF's scrap mill in Granite City.
