EMD SW1

The EMD SW1 is a 600-horsepower (450 kW) diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Corporation (later Division) between December 1938 and November 1953. Final assembly was at EMD's plant at LaGrange (McCook) Illinois. The SW1 was the second generation of 3,402 cu in (55.75 L) switcher from EMD, succeeding the SC (cast frame) and SW (welded frame). The most significant change from those earlier models was the use of an engine of EMD's own design, the then-new 567 engine, here in 600 hp (450 kW) V6 form. 661 locomotives of this design were built, no SW1s were built after March 1943 until production started again in September 1945.

EMC/EMD SW1
PC #8589, still in PRR livery, switching at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1970.
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Corp (later Division) (EMC/EMD) Model SW1 Build date December 1938 (1938-12) – November 1953 (1953-11) Total produced 661
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR B-B Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Trucks AAR Type A or B Wheel diameter 40 in (1,016 mm) Minimum curve 57° (104.79 ft or 31.94 m) Wheelbase 30 ft (9.14 m) Length 44 ft 11 ^1⁄4 in (13.70 m) Width 10 ft (3.05 m) Height 14 ft 4 ^5⁄8 in (4.38 m) Loco weight 196,000 lb (89,000 kg) Prime mover EMD 567 or 567A or 567AC Engine type V6 2-stroke diesel Aspiration Roots-type supercharger Displacement 3,402 cu in (55.75 L) Generator GM D-4 Traction motors (4) GM D-7A Cylinders 6 Cylinder size 8 ^1⁄2 in × 10 in (216 mm × 254 mm)
Performance figures Power output 600 hp (447 kW) Tractive effort 49,000 lb (22,000 kg)
Career Locale United States Mexico

Engine and powertrain

The SW1 introduced a 6-cylinder version of the 567 (later 567A) series engine to EMC/EMD switchers. Developing 600-horsepower (450 kW) at 800 rpm., this engine remained in production until 1966. Designed specifically for railroad locomotives, this was a supercharged 2 stroke 45 degree V type, with an 8 ¹⁄₂ by 10 in (216 by 254 mm), bore by stroke, giving 567 cubic inches (9.29 L) displacement per cylinder. A D.C. generator provides power to four motors, two on each truck, in a B-B arrangement. The SW1, like most EMD switchers, use the AAR type A switcher truck. EMC/EMD has built all its own components since 1939.[1][2]

Production changes

A number of changes were made to the SW1 over its production life. Internally, the post-war locomotives used the 567A engine.

Externally, the two center cab windows over the hood, which were curved to follow the roofline originally, but became flat-topped after mid-1950. Another external difference is the taper of the hood to the cab, which was a two-stage taper in earlier units but became a single taper in later production. Very early locomotives were delivered with a stubby exhaust stack, but this did not lift the diesel exhaust sufficiently clear of crew visibility. All later units were delivered with EMD's standard conical switcher stack, while early units were generally modified with taller stacks too. Early locomotives had a single large headlight, while later had twin sealed-beam headlights.[3]

Original owners

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
Allegheny and South Side Railway	1	101
Allis-Chalmers	1	8
Angelina and Neches River Railroad	1	10
Atlantic and East Carolina Railway	1	9
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad	1	1901	Rejected, to Richmond Terminal Railroad #1
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	16	200–215	#208, B&O renumbered to #8408, is currently owned by Wilmington & Western Railroad. 2nd oldest SW1 in routine scheduled service.
Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad	6	216-221
Boston and Maine Railroad	24	1109–1132	1109 owned by RMNE. Thomaston, CT 1113 owned and operated by BSRM, Adams/Lenox, MA
Broward County Port Authority	1	400
Buffalo Creek Railroad	1	42
Canton Railroad	5	21–25
Central Indiana Railroad	1	1
Central of Georgia Railroad	3	2, 3, 7
Central of New Jersey	4	1109–1112
Chattanooga Traction Company	1	4
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad	5	95–99	99 to MP 6001, now Dardanelle & Russellville 16
Chicago and North Western Railway	20	1207–1212, 1214, 1215, 1268–1279
Chicago District Electric Generating	2	3, 4
Chicago Short Line Railway	2	200–201
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	18	9136–9153
Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railroad	3	DS-50, 5, 6	DS-50 renumbered to 1
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad	25	1610–1634	renumbered
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway	1	55
Chihuahua Forests	1	500	only SW1 exported
Cleveland Quarries	1	2	built with a 567AC engine. Last SW1 built.
Commonwealth Edison	6	10–15
Conemaugh and Black Lick Railroad	6	60–65
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad	11	427–437
Detroit Edison	3	210–212
Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad	2	900–901	re-engined with 8-567B 800 hp engines, new hoods 1952. Reclassified SW8.
Donner-Hanna Coke	1	1
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad	27	220–246
EMD (demonstrator units)*	7	755, 804, 905, 906, 911, 700, 152	EMC 755 was the first SW1
Erie Railroad	1	360
Fort Worth and Denver Railway	2	602, 604
Fort Worth Belt	1	1
Galveston Wharves	5	201–205	201 to Dardanelle & Russellville 15
Garden City Western Railway	1	201
Georgia and Florida Railroad	3	70–72
Georgia Marble Company	1	1
Granite City Steel	2	600–601
Great Lakes Steel	14	12, 14–18, 22, 30, 31, 33–36, 38
Great Northern Railway	9	5101–5105, 80–83	5101–5105 renumbered to 75-79. Then to Burlington Northern 75-83. 77 was sold to Walla Walla Valley in 1975.
Great Western Railway of Colorado	1	61
Hanna Furnace Company	3	14–16
Houston Belt and Terminal Railway	1	10
Illinois Central Railroad	19	9014–9032
Inland Steel Company	12	54, 57, 70–73, 76–81
Lehigh Portland Cement Company	1	5
Lehigh Valley Railroad	6	112–115, 118-119	#114 is currently owned by Wilmington & Western Railroad. Oldest SW1 in routine scheduled service.
Louisiana Midland Railway	1	11
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	5	11–15
Manufacturers' Junction Railway	1	6
Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad	1	70
Mathieson Chemical	2	1–2
McLouth Steel	3	3–5
Memphis Union Station	1	10
Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago	3	1–3
Missouri Pacific Railroad	10	9004–9006, 9011, 9200–9205
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway	1	15
New York Central Railroad	103	600–621 (first), 622–654, 574–599, 600–621 (second)	9 (2nd) is now WRIX 1001, located on RVT - White City, OR0
Nickel Plate Road	2	105–106
Pennsylvania Railroad	85	5910, 5944–5953, 5987–5999, 9104, 9137–9154, 9200–9203, 9205-9209, 9396–9428
Pere Marquette Railroad	2	10–11
Phelps Dodge Corporation	1	A
Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad	9	212–218, 220, 221
Public Service Company of Northern Illinois	3	9–11
Portland Traction Company (Oregon)	2	100, 200	100 is currently owned, restored to as delivered and operated by Oregon Pacific Railroad on its original home rails.
Reading Railroad	9	16–24
Republic Steel	22	50–54, 300–306, 340–341, 352, 370–372, 890–891, 893–894
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	18	529–546	536 operational as AOK 536. Serial number 1685 build 4/42
Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway	1	100
Sahara Coal Company	2	(no numbers)
Seaboard Air Line Railroad	1	1200
Soo Line Railroad	1	320
Southern Railway	9	2002–2004, 2007–2011, 8565
Southern Pacific Railroad	14	11, 1004–1016	11 is Texas & New Orleans
St. Joseph Belt Railroad	1	12
St. Joseph Terminal Railroad	2	1–2
Tennessee Coal and Iron Railroad	4	1000–1003
Terminal Railroad Association of St Louis	8	501–508
Union Railroad	22	455–476
US Department of Defense (US Army)	4	7001–7004	to Alaska 1203, 1201-1202, 1204
Wabash Railroad	11	101–111
Warner Sand and Gravel Company	1	15
Western Pacific Railroad	2	502–503	WP 501 was ex-EMC 906
Wheeling Steel Company	4	1001–1004
Total	661

• There were 7 units built as EMD demonstrators: #152 (to Scullin Steel #6), 700 (to Manufacturers' Junction Railway #7), 755 (to Inland Steel #51), 804 (to Southern Pacific Railroad #1000, pictured above), 905 (to Central of Georgia #1), 906 (to Western Pacific Railroad #501), 911 (to Great Lakes Steel #11)
• As of 2013, Amtrak still has one SW1 on their roster. #737 is used for switching chores at the Wilmington Delaware shops.

Preservation

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

An SW1 at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, Alabama.

• Andersen Windowalls 3110 is preserved in operational condition at the Minnesota Transportation Museum It was previously Norfolk and Western Railway 3110 and originally Wabash Railroad 110, built in June 1949.
• Arkansas–Oklahoma Railroad 536 is in operational condition and in regular freight service. It was previously Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 536 and is painted in a Rock Island inspired paint scheme.
• Baltimore and Ohio 8408 is preserved at the Wilmington and Western Railroad in operational condition.
• Black River and Western Railroad 400, built as Lehigh Valley 112, is preserved on the BR&W in operational condition.
• Boston and Maine 1109 is preserved at the Railroad Museum of New England.
• BRMX 1849, built as Boston and Maine 1113, is preserved at the Berkshire Scenic Railway, in Lenox, MA.
• Cargill 6751, built in 1940 with construction number 1111, was one of the first SW1s that Electro-Motive built.[4] After buying the unit, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) initially numbered the locomotive as No. 213, but subsequently changed the number to 8413.[4] Leased by the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad in 1968, B&O 8413 was one of the last locomotives to operate on the W&OD before the railroad closed during the same year.[5] After several transfers of ownership, the locomotive was acquired by Cargill, becoming Cargill No. 6751.[4] Cargill moved the locomotive to Ogden, Utah in 1993 for use in the company's Globe Mill.[4] Following Cargill's donation of the locomotive in 2010, the Utah Central Railway and the Union Pacific Railroad delivered it on May 21, 2011, to the Utah State Railroad Museum for display at Union Station in Ogden.[4]
• Commonwealth Edison 15 is preserved at the Illinois Railway Museum. This unit is in operating condition and is one of the most frequently used diesels on the property.
• Heart of Dixie 904, built as Memphis Union Station 10, is preserved at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum.
• Holly Sugar 1, the first SW1 built by EMC in 1939 is now preserved at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California. Built as Southern Pacific Lines 1000, the locomotive worked for the SP until it’s retirement in the 1970’s, then was sold to Holly Sugar and renumbered to 1. The museum donation was a coordinated effort between the museum, the Pacific Coast Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society and Spreckels Sugar (the locomotive's last owner).
• Louisville & Nashville 13 is on display at the Foley Railroad Museum in Foley, AL.
• Metra commuter rail inherited two SW1s from the Rock Island. The two engines are used for Yard Service and power on work trains on the Metra Electric and Rock Island lines. Built in 1939 and 1945, they are rumored to be two of the oldest operating diesels in Illinois and the oldest operating locomotives in the U.S. that are not preserved.
• Milwaukee Road 1626 is preserved at the Milwaukee Road Heritage Center. It was formerly Northern States Power X-5, Ex-Burlington Northern 79, Exx- Chicago Burlington & Quincy 9137. Built in June 1939, the locomotive is in running condition, with its original Electro-Motive Division 6-567B-1 Prime Mover.[6]
• Monon Railroad 50, the first diesel locomotive owned by the Monon, is owned by the Indiana Transportation Museum. It was damaged in the move to the new home of the museum in Logansport, Indiana and is awaiting repairs now. ITM also had Milwaukee Road 1613, but it was scrapped in July 2018.
• New York Central 705, built as Louisville and Nashville 14, is preserved in operational condition at the Adirondack Scenic Railroad.
• Northern States Power 4 is preserved in operational condition at the Gopher State Railway Museum. It was originally built as CB&Q 9146 in May 1940.
• Peabody Coal Company 470 (Former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western #436) is on static display at the Museum of the Coal Industry in Lynnville, Indiana.[7]
• Pennsylvania Railroad 9206 is preserved in operational condition on the Black River and Western Railroad.
• Pennsylvania Railroad 9408 is preserved in operational condition at the Railway Museum of Greater Cincinnati.
• Pere Marquette Railway 11 is preserved at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, in Baltimore, MD, in operating condition at last report.
• Portland Traction Company 100 is preserved in operational condition at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center.
• Sacramento Northern 402, originally built as Western Pacific 502, is preserved at the California State Railroad Museum.
• Sahara Coal SW1 #6 was purchased in the 1990s by the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad in Marion, Illinois and is still in operation.
• SMS Rail Service 9423, former Pennsylvania Railroad 9423, is in storage in Bridgeport, NJ.
• Southern Pacific Lines 1006 is preserved in its as-built appearance at the Orange Empire Railway Museum.[8]
• Western Pacific Railroad 501, originally built as EMC demonstrator 906, is preserved at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola, CA. This locomotive was the Western Pacific's first diesel-electric engine.
• Used locomotive dealer/lessor Western Rail, Inc. owns WRIX 1001 (built 06/1949 as NYC # 609 (2nd), later renumbered NYC 8435, PC 8435, CR 8435, GE Sayre Repair Shop # 2, IRLX 1006, IRLX 1001, WCTR 1001). WRIX 1001 currently resides on the Rogue Valley Terminal Railroad in White City, Oregon awaiting shipment to Western Rail - Airway Heights, Washington later in 2018.
• Wilmington and Western Railroad 114, built as Lehigh Valley 114, is preserved and operates tourist trains on the W&W.
• The Zanesville & Western Scenic Railroad 8599, former PRR 5999, operations excursions on its scenic line in Fultonham, Ohio.

See also

• List of GM-EMD locomotives

Notes

1. Pinkepank, Jerry A (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide. Kalmbach Books. pp. 10, 26, 35. LCCN 66-22894.
2. Ross, David, ed. (2003). The Encyclopedia of Trains and Locomotives. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-7607-9679-5.
3. Pinkepank, Jerry A (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide. Kalmbach Books. p. 35. LCCN 66-22894.
4. "Rolling Stock of the Utah State Railroad Museum: Cargill 6751: SW1". Utah State Railroad Museum: Spencer S. Eccles Rail Center. Ogden, Utah: Union Station. 2016. Archived from the original on 2017-01-27. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
5. Harwood, Herbert Hawley, Jr. (2000). Rails to the Blue Ridge: The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, 1847–1968 (3rd ed.). Fairfax Station, Virginia: Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. p. 137. ISBN 0615114539. OCLC 44685168 – via Google Books. .
6. http://www.montevideomrhc.org/
7. "Museum Projects". www.lynnvillecoalmuseum.org. Retrieved 2017-02-25.
8. http://www.oerm.org

References

• Dorin, Patrick C. (1972). Chicago and North Western Power. Burbank, California: Superior Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 0-87564-715-4.
• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-026-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• (July 2005), "Preservation Briefs", Trains Magazine, p. 71.
• TrainWeb.com. The Unofficial EMD homepage. Retrieved on January 7, 2005. Contains fairly complete builders' records for early EMD production.
• Andersen Windows 3110. Retrieved on December 7, 2012
• EMD Product Reference Data Card dated January 1, 1959 has the 567AC engine data used in the as-built roster.

External links

• Media related to EMD SW1 locomotives at Wikimedia Commons