So this not only happened to alco series shells.
I recently acquired this beast of a Western Pacific F3 with that symptom. The sides of the shell do not lie flat perfectly on the chassis. This shell distortion is noticeable.
I also have a Boston and Maine postwar GP 7 loco that doesn’t lay perfectly flat on the shell. It’s wasn’t noticeable until the screw holes did not line up! I laid it on an absolutely flat surface and it rocked up and down.
heat for decades of great continuous running probably contributed.