An evolution of the earlier 241 diesel engine, it powered ALCO's first generation of production road locomotives.
[1] In early 1944, with the 241 engine undergoing testing, design work began on the 244; later that year, ALCO management appropriated the program separate funding, and subsequently chose to commit to bringing the 244 to production as soon as possible, dropping plans to use the 241 in commercial service.
To avoid the problems caused by the expensive to build 241 engine, the 244 was rushed into production at Auburn, New York without an extensive and lengthy testing process.
[4] Friday January 4, 1946, was the date the demonstrators were photographed at Alco's Schenectady Assembly Plant.
The Gulf Mobile and Ohio RR had a standing order with Alco for 80 freight diesels.
The new road switchers, the RS-2 and RSC-2 were delayed several months while the hi-rise manifold was redesigned to allow for a lower long hood.
[7] Despite the redesign of crankshafts, the new forged versions continued to fail, particularly in the 12-cylinder engines; this problem was traced to metallurgical flaws in components from a supplier.
[8] GE air-cooled RD-1 turbocharger assemblies also required repeated redesign of both manifolds and turbines.
[12] After an extended testing period, in 1956 the company introduced a new line of locomotives powered by the new engine, named the 251, marking the end of 244 production.
[13] The V-12 designs of 1,600 hp (1,190 kW) version of the 244 engine was used in Alco's high end power generation for a short time.