The Boston & Maine Alco FA No. 217 was produced in 1959 on an unpainted BLUE body that was painted BLACK with a WHITE stripe at the roof line. It was equipped with a light in the A unit, but did not have a horn. A three position directional unit whose control lever was adjustable from the top of the body controled the direction of this diesel. A single vertical worm drive Type IIC motor powers two axles that utilized Magnetraction.

The lettering was heat-stamped on these units and the sheet metal chassis’ all have solid non-operating couplers. The color of the plastic is susceptible to fading when exposed to direct sunlight. These Alco units are often found with mis-matched colored pairs and this has been found to exist this way from the factory. There are two variations: Variation A: Both units are BLUE in color as has been described above. Variation B: One of the units is a TEAL BLUE color.

All of the Lionel Alco FA units are designed to work on the tighter radius of O27 Gauge track, but they will run equally well on O Gauge track.