The EMD SW9 is a model of diesel switcher locomotives built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between November 1950 and December 1953. Additional SW9s were built by General Motors Diesel in Ontario Canada from December 1950 to March 1953. Power was provided by an EMD 567B 12-cylinder engine, producing 1,200 horsepower (895 kW).[1]

EMD SW9
CIRY 1206, an SW9 built in 1951 on October 31, 2008.
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
General Motors Diesel (GMD, Canada)
ModelSW9, TR5
Build dateNovember 1950 – December 1953
Total producedSW9: 786 (EMD) plus 29 (GMD)
TR5A: 10
TR5B: 12
Specifications
Configuration:
 • AARB-B
 • UICBo′Bo′
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Prime moverEMD 12-567B
Engine typeV12 Two-stroke diesel
AspirationRoots-type supercharger
Cylinders12
Performance figures
Power output1,200 hp (890 kW)
Career
LocaleNorth America
Illinois Central SW14 No. 1496 is at the fueling racks in Memphis, Tennessee. 1496 was built by EMD in May 1952 as IC SW9 #9469 then renumbered 469. Then it was later converted into an EMD SW14.

786 examples of this model were built for American railroads and 29 were built for Canadian railroads.[2]

Design and production

The SW9 was EMD's successor to the SW7. Like the SW7, the SW9 retained a power output of 1,200 hp and the same general design. It differed in lacking the upper hood vents found on the SW7, and with the installation of a 567B engine to replace the 567A found in the SW7.[1]

Starting in October 1953 a number of SW9s were built with the 567BC engine. In December 1953, one locomotive, Weyerhaeuser 305, was built with a 567C engine. The 567C was subsequently installed on the SW9's successor, the SW1200.[1]

In addition to the single units produced, ten TR5 cow-calf paired sets were produced (eight for the Union Pacific Railroad, and two for the Union Railroad of Pittsburgh). The Union Railroad also bought an additional two TR5B "calves".[1]

Original buyers

SW9 locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA

RailroadQuantityRoad numbersNotes
Aliquippa and Southern Railroad11200Built with a 567BC engine
Apalachicola Northern Railroad7705–711710-711 built with 567BC engines
Arkansas and Louisiana Missouri Railway112
Ashley, Drew and Northern Railway1174
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway192420–24382434-2438 built with 567BC engines
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad65652–716
Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad8590–597
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad6598–603
Bauxite and Northern Railway110
Bellefonte Central Railroad15323
Belt Railway of Chicago4520–523
Boston and Maine Railroad121220–1231
Cambria and Indiana Railroad830–37
Campbell's Creek Railroad113
Central of Georgia Railway10301–310
Central Railroad of New Jersey111084–1094
Charleston and Western Carolina Railway2802–803
Chattanooga Traction Company15First SW9 built
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway355080–5093, 5245–52655092-5093 built with 567BC engines
Chicago and Illinois Western Railroad1104
Chicago and North Western Railway91101–1105, 1122–1125
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad29269–9270to Burlington Northern 160-161
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad5775–779Built with 567BC engines
Chicago, West Pullman and Southern Railroad247–48
Conemaugh and Black Lick Railroad2118–119
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad10551–560
Detroit and Toledo Shore Line Railroad3119–121
Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway1511–25
Erie Railroad7434–440
Florida East Coast Railway8221–228
Georgia Railroad2906–907
Grand Trunk Western Railroad77010–7016
Great Lakes Steel Corporation327–29
Great Northern Railway717–23to Burlington Northern 149-155
Great Western Railway of Colorado2121–122
Houston Belt and Terminal Railway1022–31
Illinois Central Railroad709320–9334, 9430–9484
Indiana Harbor Belt79002-90089004-9008 built with 567BC engines
Anaconda Copper (Inspiration Consolidated Copper Company)222–23
Kirby Lumber Company11000
Kosmos Timber Company (US Plywood Corp - Champion Intl )1100Built with 567BC engine
Lehigh Valley Railroad13280–292
Louisville and Nashville Railroad302267–2296
Maine Central Railroad2334–335335 built with 567BC engine
Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad182
Milwaukee Road31643–1645Renumbered 620-622
Mississippi Central Railroad10201–210to Illinois Central
Missouri Pacific Railroad229170–9191renumbered 1232-1253
Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad101226–1235Renumbered 12-21
Monessen Southwestern423–25, 27
Montour Railroad1273–84
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway534–38
New York Central Railroad608922-8930, 8941–8951, 8962–9001
New York Central (Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad)79002–9008
New York Central (Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad)208931–8940, 8952–8961
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad ("Nickel Plate Road")12233–244
Northern Pacific Railway4115–118to Burlington Northern 156-159
Oliver Iron Mining Company6934–939
Pennsylvania Railroad368513–8544, 8859–8860, 8869–8870
Peoria and Pekin Union Railway2411–412
Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad435–38
Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad9231–239Built with 567BC engines
Pittsburgh, Chartiers and Youghiogheny Railway42–5
Republic Steel Corporation1344
Reserve Mining Company11211
Soo Line (Wisconsin Central Railway)82111–2115, 2117–2119
Southern Pacific (Texas and New Orleans Railroad)5108–112renumbered to 2208-2212 in 1965
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway343–45to Burlington Northern 167-169
St. Louis Southwestern Railway ("Cotton Belt")41058–1061renumbered to 2204-2207 in 1965
St. Louis–San Francisco Railway ("Frisco")10305–314
Steelton and Highspire Railroad440–43
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis131206–1218
Texas and Pacific Railway131024–1036
Union Pacific Railroad421825–18661847-1866 built with 567BC engines
Union Railroad14575–588
Wabash Railroad12363–374
Western Pacific Railroad6601–606
Weyerhaeuser Timber Company3302–303, 305305 built with 567C engine
Wheeling Steel21252–12531253 built with 567BC engine
Total786

SW9 locomotives built by General Motors Diesel, Canada

RailroadQuantityRoad numbersNotes
Canadian National Railways107000–7009
Canadian Pacific Railway67400–7405
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway55240–5244
Great Northern Railway314–16to Burlington Northern 146-148
Steel Company of Canada170
Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway455–58
Total29

TR5 locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA

RailroadQuantity A unitsQuantity B unitsRoad numbers A unitsRoad numbers B unitsNotes
Union Pacific Railroad881870A–1877A1870B–1877BDynamic brakes were added to TR5As by UP shortly after delivery
Union Railroad24701–702701C–704C
Total1012

SW1000R

Amtrak #796, which started life in 1952 as P&LE #8959, idles in Washington, D.C. in 2008.

In 1994 Amtrak acquired nine SW9s from various railroads and had them rebuilt by the National Railway Equipment Company. These switchers were reclassified as EMD SW1000R.[3]

See also

References