EMD SW8
Encyclopedia
An EMD SW8 is a diesel shunting/switching
locomotive
manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel
between September 1950 and February 1954. Power is supplied by an EMD 567
B 8-cylinder
engine, for a total of 800 hp.
309 of this model were built for United States
railroads, and 65 were built for Canadian
railroads. After the Korean War
, 4 US owned SW8's were handed over to the South Korea
n government and later they bought 10 of this model. Now, one SW8 (Korail
2001) is preserved at Busan
. In addition, 12 TR6 cow-calf
paired sets were produced.
In May 1953, a single example of the SW8 was built with a hydraulic transmission as model DH2. This locomotive was displayed at a trade show in 1955, but no sales of the DH2 followed. The locomotive was rebuilt with a standard electrical transmission, and served EMD as plant switcher #105 until 1968.
The first TR6A, Southern Pacific 4600, later numbered 1100, is preserved at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum
at Portola, California
.
Switcher
A switcher or shunter is a small railroad locomotive intended not for moving trains over long distances but rather for assembling trains ready for a road locomotive to take over, disassembling a train that has been...
locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel
General Motors Diesel
General Motors Diesel was a Canadian railway diesel locomotive manufacturer.-History:General Motors Diesel, Limited, was created in 1949 as the Canadian subsidiary of the Electro Motive Division of General Motors located in the United States...
between September 1950 and February 1954. Power is supplied by an EMD 567
EMD 567
The EMD 567 is a line of diesel engines built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. This engine, which succeeded Winton's 201-A, was used in EMD's locomotives from 1938 until its replacement in 1966 by the EMD 645. It has a bore of , a stroke of and a displacement of 567 in³ per cylinder...
B 8-cylinder
Cylinder (engine)
A cylinder is the central working part of a reciprocating engine or pump, the space in which a piston travels. Multiple cylinders are commonly arranged side by side in a bank, or engine block, which is typically cast from aluminum or cast iron before receiving precision machine work...
engine, for a total of 800 hp.
309 of this model were built for United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
railroads, and 65 were built for Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
railroads. After the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, 4 US owned SW8's were handed over to the South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n government and later they bought 10 of this model. Now, one SW8 (Korail
Korail
Korea Railroad Corporation , promoted as Korail , is the national railroad operator in South Korea.Korail operates passenger and freight trains throughout South Korea...
2001) is preserved at Busan
Busan
Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...
. In addition, 12 TR6 cow-calf
Cow-calf
In North American railroading, a cow-calf locomotive is a set of switcher-type diesel locomotives. The set usually is a pair; some 3-unit sets were built, but this was rare. A cow is equipped with a driving cab; a calf is not...
paired sets were produced.
In May 1953, a single example of the SW8 was built with a hydraulic transmission as model DH2. This locomotive was displayed at a trade show in 1955, but no sales of the DH2 followed. The locomotive was rebuilt with a standard electrical transmission, and served EMD as plant switcher #105 until 1968.
The first TR6A, Southern Pacific 4600, later numbered 1100, is preserved at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum
Western Pacific Railroad Museum
The Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California, formerly known as the Portola Railroad Museum before , is a heritage railroad that preserves and operates historic American railroad equipment. The museum's mission is to preserve the history of the Western Pacific Railroad and is...
at Portola, California
Portola, California
Portola is the only incorporated city in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census, down from 2,227 at the 2000 census...
.
Original buyers
Locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA
Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers | Notes |
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Electro-Motive Division (plant) | |
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Built as model DH-2 |
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator) | |
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to Illinois Terminal Railroad Illinois Terminal Railroad The Illinois Terminal Railroad, known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937, was a heavy duty interurban electric railroad with extensive passenger and freight business in central and southern Illinois from 1896 to 1982... 725 |
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to Georgia Northern Railway Georgia Northern Railway The Boston and Albany Railroad was chartered in 1891 to build a rail line from Boston to Albany, Georgia, United States. After two years, very little progress had been made and the railroad was purchased by the Pidcock Family who had founded a private logging railroad in the early 1890s that ran... 801 |
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to Cuyahoga Valley Railway 855 | |
Aliquippa and Southern Railroad Aliquippa and Southern Railroad The Aliquippa and Ohio River Railroad is a six-mile short line railroad in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, United States, controlled by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. through its ownership of the Ohio Central Railroad System... |
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Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Atlantic Coast Line Railroad The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad was an American railroad that existed between 1900 and 1967, when it merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad, its long-time rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad... |
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Bamberger Railroad | |
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Boston and Maine Railroad Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Corporation , known as the Boston and Maine Railroad until 1964, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century... |
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Canton Railroad Canton Railroad The Canton Railroad is a Class III switching and terminal railroad, operating in eastern Baltimore City and Baltimore County. It serves the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore and local shipping companies, and connects with two Class I railroads: CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern... |
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Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway , also known as the Crandic is a Class III railroad operating in the US state of Iowa.-History:... (“Crandic”) |
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Chicago and North Western Railway Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s... |
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Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway or Omaha Road was a railroad in the U.S. states of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota. It was incorporated in 1880 as a consolidation of the Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railway and the North Wisconsin Railway,. The... (“Omaha Road”) |
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Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock.-Incorporation:... |
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Chicago, West Pullman and Southern Railroad | |
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Cincinnati Union Terminal | |
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Colorado and Wyoming Railway Colorado and Wyoming Railway Originally founded in 1899, the Colorado and Wyoming Railway is a subsidiary of the Oregon Steel Mills. It hauls coal, ore and steel products on about five miles of track inside Oregon Steel's Rocky Mountain Steel Mills facility in Pueblo, Colorado, and connects to the Union Pacific Railroad and... |
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Columbia Iron and Steel | |
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Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company was a railroad connecting Pennsylvania's Lackawanna Valley, rich in anthracite coal, to Hoboken, New Jersey, , Buffalo and Oswego, New York... |
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De Queen and Eastern Railroad De Queen and Eastern Railroad The De Queen and Eastern Railroad is a Class III short-line railroad headquartered in De Queen, Arkansas.QE operates of track in Arkansas on a line from De Queen, where it interchanges with both the Kansas City Southern Railway and Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad to Perkins, Arkansas, where... |
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Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad The Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad was a railroad that operated between its namesake cities of Detroit, Michigan and Ironton, Ohio via Toledo between 1905 and 1983.-Early history:... |
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Donora Southern | |
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Great Northern Railway | |
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101 was rebuilt from an NW1 |
Lake Terminal Railroad | |
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Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad Incorporated on April 17, 1886, at Marblehead, Ohio, the Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad was a short standard gauge railroad that spanned about seven miles in length... |
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Lehigh Valley Railroad Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad... |
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Louisiana and North West Railroad Louisiana and North West Railroad The Louisiana and Northwest Railroad is a short-line railroad headquartered in Homer, Louisiana.LNW operates a line in Arkansas and Louisiana from McNeil, Arkansas , to Gibsland, Louisiana... |
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Ludington and Northern Railroad | |
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Merchants Despatch Transportation | |
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Monessen Southwestern | |
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New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal is the main train station in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is served by Amtrak passenger trains, and played a role in the recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.- History :... |
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New York Central Railroad New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States... |
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New York Central (Chicago River and Indiana Railroad) | |
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New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad The New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad , abbreviated NYC&St.L, was a railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. Commonly referred to as the Nickel Plate Road, the railroad served a large area, including trackage in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois... (“Nickel Plate Road”) |
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North Louisiana and Gulf Railroad | |
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Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical Company | |
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Poplar Ridge Coal | |
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Reserve Mining Company | |
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Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway The Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway is a very small railroad based in Roscoe, Texas, just west of Sweetwater, where it connects with the Union Pacific. When first constructed, the railroad ran from a connection with the Texas and Pacific Railway at Roscoe north through Snyder and then westward... |
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South Shore Railway | |
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Southern Pacific Company | |
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Southern Pacific (Texas and New Orleans Railroad Texas and New Orleans Railroad The Texas and New Orleans Railroad is a former railroad in Texas and Louisiana. At one point the company was the largest railroad in Texas, with of trackage in 1934, but by 1961 there were only remaining when it was merged with parent company Southern Pacific.... ) |
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Steelton and Highspire | |
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Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company The Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company , also known as TCI and the Tennessee Company, was a major American steel manufacturer with interests in coal and iron ore mining and railroad operations. Originally based entirely within Tennessee, it relocated most of its business to Alabama in the... |
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Texas and Pacific Railway Texas and Pacific Railway The Texas and Pacific Railway Company was created by federal charter in 1871 with the purpose of building a southern transcontinental railroad between Marshall, Texas, and San Diego, California.... |
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Tremont and Gulf Railway | |
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to Illinois Central Railroad Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois with New Orleans, Louisiana and Birmingham, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa... |
Unity Railways | |
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United States Army United States Army The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services... |
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United States Steel | |
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Wabash Railroad Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including trackage in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit,... |
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Wheeling Steel | |
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Wichita Falls and Southern Railroad | |
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to Rock Island 839–840 |
Woodward Iron Company Woodward Iron Company The Woodward Iron Company was founded on December 31, 1881, by two brothers, William & Joseph Woodward. William was the company president and Joseph was the company secretary. The company operated mines, quarries and furnaces that were connected by a private industrial railroad in Bessemer,... |
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Total | 309 | ||
Locomotives built by General Motors Diesel, Canada
Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers | Notes |
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Algoma Central | |
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Algoma Steel Algoma Steel See also Algoma Essar Steel Algoma is an integrated primary steel producer located on the St. Marys River in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. Its products are sold in Canada and the United States as well as overseas. Algoma Steel was founded in 1902 by Francis Clergue, an American entrepreneur... |
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Canada and Gulf Terminal | |
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Canadian National Railway Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad".... s |
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Canadian Pacific Railway Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001... |
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Dominion Foundries and Steel Company (“Dofasco”) | |
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Dominion Iron and Steel | |
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Essex Terminal Railway Essex Terminal Railway Essex Terminal Railway is a Canadian shortline terminal railroad, running from the City of Windsor, Ontario through La Salle, to the Town of Amherstburg, Ontario, for a distance of approximately 21 miles . The ETR has direct connections to Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway... |
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Essex Terminal 104 last SW8 built 2/54 |
Steel Company of Canada | |
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Wabash Railroad Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including trackage in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit,... |
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Bought for use in Canada |
Total | 65 | ||
TR6
Railroad | Quantity A unit A unit An A unit, in railroad terminology, is a locomotive equipped with a driving cab, or crew compartment, and the control system to control other locomotives in a multiple unit, and therefore able to be the lead unit in a consist of several locomotives controlled from a single position... s | Quantity B unit B unit A "B" unit, in railroad terminology, is a locomotive unit which does not have a driving cab, or crew compartment, and must therefore be controlled from another, coupled locomotive with a driving cab . The term booster unit is also used. The concept was largely confined to North America... s | Road numbers A units | Road numbers B units | Notes |
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Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator) | |
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to Southern Pacific 4600 (A), 4700 (B) |
Oliver Iron Mining Company | |
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Southern Pacific Company | |
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Total | 12 | 12 | |||