EMD SW1

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]

Like most long-running locomotive models, a number of changes were made to the SW1 over its production life. Internally, the post-war locomotives were somewhat improved, and used the 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.[3]

The SW1 appears very similar to its SC and SW predecessors, but has only a single stack instead of two, a significantly shorter hood and a larger rear platform, no small louvers 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 EMD switchers, the SW1 has a much shorter hood, large platforms at each end, a single exhaust stack, and a large 'satchel' type sandbox.

• 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.

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

• The first SW1 built by EMC in 1939 is now preserved at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California. The locomotive worked for Holly Sugar in Santa Ana and Tracy as the company's number 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).
• B&O 8413, a General Motors' (GM) Electro-Motive Corporation (later part of GM's Electro-Motive Division (EMD)) SW1 diesel-electric switcher locomotive assembled in 1940 with construction number 1111, was one of the first SW1s that Electro-Motive built.[4] After acquisition, 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][6][7] Cargill moved the locomotive to Ogden, Utah in 1993 for use in the company's Globe Mill.[4][7] 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][7]
• EMC demonstrator 906, sold to the Western Pacific Railroad as their 501, is preserved at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola, CA. It has been restored back to its original WP image. This locomotive was the Western Pacific's first diesel-electric engine.
• Another former Western Pacific SW1 is also preserved at the California State Railroad Museum. Later sold to WP subsidiary Sacramento Northern, this engine is preserved as SN 402, painted in the famous silver and orange "Zephyr" colors that the WP roads used through the 1950s and 1960s.
• The Zanesville & Western Scenic Railroad operates an SW1, former PRR 5999, on its scenic line in Fultonham, Ohio.
• The Wilmington and Western Railroad owns and operates two SW1s in tourist passenger service. One is from the Baltimore and Ohio, and the other is from the Lehigh Valley.
• The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, Baltimore, MD has former SW1 Pere Marquette Railway #11 in operating condition at last report.
• The Milwaukee Road Heritage Center operates a Black (Soon to be Painted into MILW Road's paint scheme) SW1 that was former NSP 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.[8]
• The Indiana Transportation Museum has two SW1's, Monon Railroad #50 the first diesel locomotive to run on the Monon, which is privately owned. It was damaged in the move to the new home of the museum in Logansport, Indiana and is awaiting repairs now. & formerly Milwaukee Road #867 cosmetically restored before being scrapped in July 2018.
• The Illinois Railway Museum has former Commonwealth Edison SW1 #15. This unit is in operating condition and is one of the most frequently used diesels on the property.
• The Minnesota Transportation Museum operates Andersen Windowalls 3110, which was donated by the Andersen Corporation in 2001. It was previously Norfolk and Western Railway 3110 and originally Wabash Railroad 110, built in June 1949.
• 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.
• FirstLight Power Resources actively operates a yellow SW1 with road number 1849 as a coal train yard switcher at the Mt. Tom Power Plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts This is ex Boston & Maine #1113.
• Sahara Coal SW1 #6 was purchased in the 1990s by the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad in Marion, Illinois and is still in operation.
• Southern Pacific #1006 is at the Orange Empire Railway Museum.[9]
• Peabody Coal Company #470 (Former Delaware, Lackawanna and Western #436) is on static display at the Museum of the Coal Industry in Lynnville, Indiana.[10]
• The New Hope & Ivyland Railway in New Hope, PA owns ex-Pennsylvania Railroad No. 9423.
• 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.

• List of GM-EMD locomotives

• 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.

• Media related to EMD SW1 locomotives at Wikimedia Commons