EMD SW1500
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 NIRC 4 an SW1500 performs switching duties on the BNSF line in the Chicago's South Loop near Union Station. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The EMD SW1500 was a 1,500 hp (1,119 kW) diesel locomotive intended for switching service and built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between June 1966 and January 1974. 808 examples were constructed. It was closely related to the less powerful EMD SW1000 model, forming a line of switchers powered by the new EMD 645 engine. The SW1500 replaced the SW1200 in the EMD product line, and was in turn replaced by the MP15DC.
The SW1500 was a substantially bulkier locomotive than the SW1200, with a much bulkier frame, larger cab and bigger hood. In many respects it was approaching a road switcher in abilities. While the SW1500 came as standard with AAR switcher trucks, the majority of them were delivered with the optional Flexicoil trucks which permitted speeds up to 60 mph (100 km/h). The SW1500 was, in fact, often operated as a road-switcher for branchline service, and continues in this role today.
The very similar SW1504 was fundamentally a SW1500 mounted on Blomberg trucks, and was produced for the Mexican national railroad, Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México.
Original owners SW1500s
| Domestic (US/Export) orders | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers | Notes |
| Alton and Southern Railway | 18 | 1500–1517 | #1503 now belongs to the Acadiana Railway |
| Alcoa Terminal Railroad | 1 | 9 | |
| Apalachicola Northern Railroad | 8 | 712-719 | #717 & 718 now on the Central Midland Ry in St Louis |
| Armco Steel | 5 | 701-705 | |
| Ashley, Drew and Northern Railroad | 1 | 150 | Now on the Fordyce and Princeton Railroad |
| Angelina and Neches River Railroad | 1 | 1500 | |
| Armco Steel | 5 | 701-705 | |
| Belt Railway of Chicago | 3 | 530-532 | |
| Burlington Northern Railroad | 15 | 310-324 | In service as BNSF 3456-3470 |
| Cambria and Indiana Railroad | 2 | 15, 16 | |
| Chattahoochee Valley Railway | 1 | 101 | |
| Chicago Short Line Railroad | 2 | 30, 31 | |
| General Motors Electro-Motive Division | 9 | 106-114 | 106-108 to IU 22-23, 25, 109 to IHB 9222, 110-112 to IU 27-29, 107 is first SW1500 built in 6/66, 113 to ?, 114 to ? |
| Georgia Power | 5 | 1401–1402, 1405, 1503–1504 | |
| W.R. Grace Chemical | 2 | 101, 102 | |
| Great Northern Railway | 10 | 200-209 | To Burlington Northern 300-309, Most now in service with BNSF |
| Houston Belt and Terminal Railway | 6 | 50-55 | |
| Howe Coal | 2 | 1, 2 | To Kansas City Southern |
| Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad | 27 | 9200-9221, 9223-9227 | Penn Central Subsidiary company |
| Illinois Terminal Railroad | 7 | 1509–1515 | |
| Indianapolis Union Railway | 5 | 24, 26, 30-32 | IU 22-23, 25, 27-29 are former EMD Plant Switchers 106-108, 110-112 |
| Inland Steel | 7 | 119-125 | |
| Kansas City Southern Railway | 42 | 1500–1541 | In service with KCS |
| Kentucky and Indiana Terminal Railroad | 16 | 67-83 | K&IT 67 is the first production SW1500 7/66, K&IT 83 is the last production SW1500 1/74 |
| Lake Erie, Franklin and Clarion Railroad | 2 | 23, 24 | |
| Longview, Portland and Northern Railway | 1 | 130 | |
| Louisville and Nashville Railroad | 30 | 5000-5029 | |
| Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway | 2 | 36-37 | |
| Minnesota Taconite US Steel | 6 | 949-954 | |
| Minnesota Transfer Railway | 7 | 300-306 | MT 300 to C&NW 1301 |
| Mississippi Export Railroad | 1 | 64 | |
| Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad | 6 | 50-55 | |
| Missouri Pacific Railroad | 4 | 1518–1521 | |
| New Orleans Public Belt Railroad | 3 | 151-153 | |
| Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad | 2 | 160, 161 | |
| Penn Central | 84 | 9500-9583 | |
| Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad | 40 | 1534–1563, 9280-9289 | Penn Central Subsidiary |
| Reading Railroad | 21 | 2750–2770 | |
| Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad | 9 | 1-8,91 | |
| Rock Island Line | 10 | 940-949 | |
| Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway | 2 | 500,600 | |
| St. Mary’s Railroad | 1 | 503 | |
| Sandersville Railroad | 2 | 100,300 | |
| St. Louis-San Francisco Railway | 46 | 315-360 | |
| Southern Railway | 48 | 2300–2347 | 2300-2329 Southern, 2330-2331 Interstate, 2332-2335 New Orleans Terminal, 2336-2337 CNO&TP, 2338-2339 Carolina & Northwestern, 2340-2347 Central of Georgia |
| Southern Pacific Railroad | 204 | 2450–2480, 2493–2510, 2523–2578, 2591–2689 | |
| St. Louis Southwestern Railway | 36 | 2481–2492, 2511–2522, 2579–2590 | 2511-2522 leased from SP |
| Tennessee Copper | 1 | 108 | |
| Tennessee Eastman Corporation (Eastman Kodak) |
1 | 1 | |
| Terminal Railroad Alabama State Docks | 2 | 681,682 | |
| Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis | 17 | 1501–1517 | |
| Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad | 4 | 303-306 | NASA Railroad, Kennedy Space Center, Florida |
| Union Railroad | 9 | 1-9 | |
| U S Pipe and Foundry | 4 | 51-54 | |
| Vermont Railway | 1 | 501 | Was sold to the Lancaster and Chester Railway |
| Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. | 2 | 306, 307 | |
| Winifrede Railroad | 1 | 13 | Currently owned and operated by Big Eagle Railroad as BER 01 |
| Western Pacific Railroad | 3 | 1501–1503 | to Union Pacific - WP 1503 now preserved at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum |
| Export orders | |||
| Amapá Railway, Brazil | 1 | 5 | |
Specifications
| Overall length: | 44 ft 8 in | 13.61 m |
| Between bolster centers: | 22 ft 0 in | 6.71 m |
| Truck wheelbase: | 8 ft 0 in | 2.44 m |
| Width over grabirons: | 10 ft 0.125 in | 3.05 m |
| Height above rails: | 15 ft 0 in | 4.57 m |
| Wheel diameter: | 40 in | 1.02 m |
| Fuel capacity: | 600-1,100 US gal | 2,300-4,200 L |
| Engine: | 12-645E, V12 Roots-blown diesel | |
| Power: | 1,500 hp | 1,100 kW |
| Main generator: | D32 generator | |
| Traction motors: | 4 × D77/78 DC | |
| Standard gearing: | 62:15 | |
| Weight: | 248,000 lb | 112,000 kg |
See also
References
- Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Milwaukee, WI. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.
- Hayden, Bob (Ed.) (1980). Model Railroader Cyclopedia-Volume 2: Diesel Locomotives. Kalmbach Books. ISBN 0-89024-547-9.
- GATX Rail Locomotive Group. SW1500 specification page. Retrieved on March 20, 2005.
- "808 SW1500's" by Dan Dover pages 22–24 Extra 2200 South January February 1974.