EMD SW8

EMD SW8
EMD SW8 retired from the USAF Titan missile program.
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division General Motors Diesel (GMD, Canada) Model SW8 Build date September 1950 – February 1954 Total produced 374
Specifications Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Prime mover EMD 567B Engine type Two-stroke diesel Aspiration Roots-type supercharger Cylinders 8
Performance figures Power output 800 hp (600 kW)
Career Locale North America South Korea

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 567B 8-cylinder engine, for a total of 800 hp (600 kW). 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 Korean 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.

Interior of the locomotive cab, with the controls and the engineer's log book.

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.

Original buyers

EMD SW8 used at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for Titan missile

SW8

Locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
Electro-Motive Division (plant)	1	105	Built as model DH-2
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)	1	800	to Illinois Terminal Railroad 725
	1	801	to Georgia Northern Railway 801
	1	500	to Cuyahoga Valley Railway 855
Aliquippa and Southern Railroad	3	800–802
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad	10	50–59
Bamberger Railroad	2	601–602
Boston and Maine Railroad	8	800–807
Canton Railroad	4	40–43
Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway (“Crandic”)	3	91–93
Chicago and North Western Railway	1	801
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (“Omaha Road”)	4	126–129
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	28	811–838
Chicago, West Pullman and Southern Railroad	5	42–46
Cincinnati Union Terminal	8	30–37
Colorado and Wyoming Railway	12	201–212
Columbia Iron and Steel	1	1
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad	11	501–511
De Queen and Eastern Railroad	1	D-3
Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad	2	900-901
Donora Southern	10	802–811
Great Northern Railway	3	98–99, 101	101 was rebuilt from an NW1
Lake Terminal Railroad	4	821–824
Lakeside and Marblehead Railroad	2	13–14
Lehigh Valley Railroad	29	128-129, 250–276
Louisiana and North West Railroad	2	40–41
Ludington and Northern Railroad	1	16
Merchants Despatch Transportation	1	15
Monessen Southwestern	2	22, 26
New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal	3	1–3
New York Central Railroad	26	9602–9627
New York Central (Chicago River and Indiana Railroad)	2	9600–9601
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (“Nickel Plate Road”)	8	107–114
North Louisiana and Gulf Railroad	2	37–38
Pittsburgh Coke and Chemical Company	1	4
Poplar Ridge Coal	1	801
Reserve Mining Company	2	1200–1201
Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway	1	200
South Shore Railway	1	12
Southern Pacific Company	20	4604–4623
Southern Pacific (Texas and New Orleans Railroad)	5	12–16
Steelton and Highspire	1	26
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company	6	750–754, 770
Texas and Pacific Railway	8	811–818
Tremont and Gulf Railway	2	75, 77	to Illinois Central Railroad
Unity Railways	1	53
United States Army	41	2000–2040
United States Steel	1	109
Wabash Railroad	9	120–121, 125–126, 128-132
Wheeling Steel	2	1152–1153
Wichita Falls and Southern Railroad	2	801–802	to Rock Island 839–840
Woodward Iron Company	2	60–61
Total	309

Locomotives built by General Motors Diesel, Canada

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
Algoma Central Railway	2	140–141
Algoma Steel	1	50
Canada and Gulf Terminal	1	356
Canadian National Railways	34	8500–8533
Canadian Pacific Railway	10	6700–6709
Dominion Foundries and Steel Company (“Dofasco”)	2	11–12
Dominion Iron and Steel	2	11–12
Essex Terminal Railway	2	102, 104	Essex Terminal 104 last SW8 built 2/54
Steel Company of Canada	7	71–77
Wabash Railroad	4	122–124, 127	Bought for use in Canada
Total	65

TR6

Railroad	Quantity A units	Quantity B units	Road numbers A units	Road numbers B units	Notes
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)	1	1	1600	1600B	to Southern Pacific 4600 (A), 4700 (B)
Oliver Iron Mining Company	8	8	1207A–1213A, 1216A 1207B–1213B, 1216B
Southern Pacific Company	3	3	4601–4603	4701–4703
Total	12	12

See also

• List of GM-EMD locomotives
• List of GMD Locomotives

References

• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-026-7.