EMD SW1

The EMD SW1 was a 600 hp diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between January 1939 and November 1953. Final assembly was at EMD's plant at La Grange, Illinois. The SW1 was the second generation of lightweight switcher from EMD, succeeding the SW and SC. The most significant change from those earlier models was the use of an engine of EMD's own design, the EMD 567 engine, here in 600 hp V6 form. 661 locomotives of this design were built, even though diesel switcher production was suspended between 1942 and 1945 by the War Production Board.

Production changes

Like most long-running locomotive models, a number of changes were made to the SW1 over its production life. Internally, the post-1945 locomotives were somewhat improved, and used an updated 567A engine.

One easily spotted change is the shape of the two center cab windows over the hood, which were curved to follow the roofline originally, but became flat-topped after mid-1950. Another easily seen 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.

Identification

The SW1 appears very similar to its SW and SC predecessors, but has only a single stack instead of two, a significantly shorter hood and a larger rear platform, no small louvres on the front top hood sides, and a large grille instead of lifting vents on top of the hood front. The sandbox in front of the radiator is somewhat smaller on the SW1.

Compared to later and switchers, the SW1 has a much shorter hood, large platforms at each end, only a single stack, and all later models lack the "satchel" sandbox in front.

Purchasing railroads

• Atlantic Coast Line: 1 locomotive, #1901
• Atlantic and East Carolina Railway: 1 locomotive, #9
• Allegheny and South Side Railroad: 1 locomotive, #101
• Allis-Chalmers: 1 locomotive, #8
• Angelina and Neches River Railroad: 1 locomotive, #10
• Buffalo Creek Railroad: 1 locomotive, #42
• Boston and Maine Railroad: 24 locomotives, #1109–1132
• Baltimore and Ohio Railroad: 22 locomotives, #200–221
• Broward County Port Authority: 1 locomotive, #400
• Conemaugh and Black Lick Railroad: 6 locomotives, #60–65
• Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad: 20 locomotives, #9136–9153, #602–604
• Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad: 5 locomotives, #95–99
• Central Indiana Railroad: 1 locomotive, #1
• Central of Georgia Railroad: 3 locomotives, #2,3,7
• Chicago District Electric Generating: 2 locomotives, #3,4
• Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville Railroad (Monon): 3 locomotives, #5,6,50
• Cleveland Quarries: 1 locomotive, #2
• Central of New Jersey: 4 locomotives, #1009–1012
• Chicago and Northwestern Railway: 21 locomotives, #55, 1207–1212, 1214, 1215, 1268–1279
• Chicago Short Line Railway: 2 locomotives, #200–201
• Cleveland Terminal: 1 locomotive, #4
• Canton Railroad: 5 locomotives, #21–25
• Commonwealth Edison: 6 locomotives, #10–15
• Detroit Edison: 3 locomotives, #210–212
• Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad: 11 locomotives, #427–437
• Donner-Hanna Coke: 1 locomotive, #1
• Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad: 1 locomotive, #1
• Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad: 27 locomotives, #220–246
• EMD demonstrators: 7 locomotives, #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)
• Erie Railroad: 1 locomotive, #360
• Fort Worth Belt: 1 locomotive, #1
• Georgia Marble: 1 locomotive, #1
• Garden City Western Railway: 1 locomotive, #201
• Georgia and Florida Railroad: 3 locomotives, #70–72
• Great Northern Railway: 9 locomotives, #80–83, #5101–5105
• Great Lakes Steel: 14 locomotives, #12, 14–18, 22, 30, 31, 33–36, 38
• Granite City Steel: 1 locomotive, #600–601
• Galveston Wharves: 5 locomotives, #201–205
• Great Western Railway: 1 locomotive, #61
• Hanna Furnace: 3 locomotives, #14–16
• Houston Belt and Terminal Railway: 1 locomotive, #10
• Illinois Central: 19 locomotives, #9014–9032
• Inland Steel: 12 locomotives, #54, 57, 70–73, 76–81
• Lehigh Portland Cement: 1 locomotive, #5
• Louisiana Midland Railway: 1 locomotive, #11
• Louisville and Nashville Railroad: 5 locomotives, #11–15
• Lehigh Valley Railroad: 6 locomotives, #112–119
• Mathieson Chemical: 2 locomotives, #1–2
• McLouth Steel: 3 locomotives, #3–5
• Memphis Union Station: 1 locomotive, #10
• Milwaukee Road: 25 locomotives, #1610–1634
• Manufacturers Junction Railway: 1 locomotive, #6
• Missouri Pacific Railroad: 10 locomotives, #9004–9006, 9011, 9200–9205
• Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad: 1 locomotive, #70
• Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway: 1 locomotive, #15
• Nickel Plate Railroad: 2 locomotives, #105–106
• New York Central Railroad: 81 locomotives, #574–654
• Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad: 9 locomotives, #212–218, 220, 221
• Port Huron and Detroit Railroad: 1 locomotive, A
• Pere Marquette Railroad: 2 locomotives, #10–11
• Pennsylvania Railroad: 81 locomotives, #5910, 5944–5953, 5987–5999, 9137–9154, 9200–9205, 9396–9428
• Public Service of Northern Illinois: 3 locomotives, #9–11
• Portland Terminal Railroad: 2 locomotives, #100, 200
• Reading Railroad: 9 locomotives, #16–24
• Rock Island: 18 locomotives, #529–546
• Republic Steel: 22 locomotives, #50–54, #300–306, #340–341, 352, 370, 371
• Roscoe Snyder and Pacific Railway: 1 locomotive, #100
• Sahara Coal: 2 locomotives
• Seaboard Air Line: 1 locomotive, #1200
• Sanitary District of Chicago: 3 locomotives, #1–3
• Soo Line: 1 locomotive, #320
• Southern Railway: 9 locomotives, #2002–2004, 2007–2011, 8565
• Southern Pacific Railroad: 14 locomotives, #11, #1004–10016
• St. Joseph Belt Railroad: 1 locomotive, #12
• St. Joseph Terminal Railroad: 2 locomotives, #1–2
• Tennessee Coal & Iron Railroad: 4 locomotives, #1000–1003
• Terminal Railroad Association of St Louis: 8 locomotives, #501–508
• Union Railroad: 22 locomotives, #455–476
• US Department of Defense: 4 locomotives, #7001–7004
• Wabash Railroad: 11 locomotives, #101–111
• Warner Sand and Gravel: 1 locomotive, #15
• Western Pacific Railroad: 2 locomotives, #502–503
• Whitestone Supply Company: 4 locomotives, #1001–1004

References

• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach Books, Waukesha, WI. ISBN 0–89024–026–4.
• TrainWeb.com. The Unofficial EMD homepage. Retrieved on January 7, 2005. Contains fairly complete builders' records for early EMD production.
• Electro-Motive Division. (1949). EMD Operating Manual: 600 & 1000 hp Switching Locomotives. General Motors Electro-Motive Division, La Grange, Illinois.