Early Electro-Motive Corporation switchers were built with Winton 201-A engines. A total of 175 were built between February 1935 and January 1939. Two main series of locomotives were built, distinguished by engine size and output: the

straight-8 The straight-eight engine (also referred to as an inline-eight engine; abbreviated I8 or L8) is a piston engine with eight cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. The number of cylinders and perfect primary and secondary eng ...

, 'S' series, and the

V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

, 'N' series. Both were offered with either one-piece cast underframes from

General Steel Castings General Steel Industries, Inc. (GSI) was an American steel company founded as General Steel Castings Corporation in 1928. The company's first headquarters were in Eddystone, Pennsylvania and, prior to completing its own modern steel foundry in ...

Granite City, Illinois Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, within the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. The population was 27,549 at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Metro East and Southern Illinois regions, ...

, denoted by 'C' after the power identifier, and fabricated, welded underframes built by EMC themselves, denoted by 'W'. This gave four model series: SC, SW, NC and NW. Further developments of the models gave model numbers NC1, NC2, NW1, and NW1A, all of which were practically indistinguishable externally from the others, as well as a pair of unique NW4 models for the

Missouri Pacific Railroad The Missouri Pacific Railroad , commonly abbreviated as MoPac, was one of the first railroads in the United States west of the Mississippi River. MoPac was a Class I railroad growing from dozens of predecessors and mergers. In 1967, the railroad ...

and a solitary, twin-engined T transfer locomotive model built for the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

S series

The production S series locomotives are identical except for cast or welded underframes, which are identical to those used under the N-series locomotives. The hood on the S series is shorter, and the locomotives have a characteristic, rounded-edged "satchel" in front of the radiator. The

Winton 201-A engine moved the exhaust stacks off-center to the engineer's left, while the N series' were central. The Winton-engined switchers can be distinguished from later

EMD 567 The EMD 567 is a line of large medium-speed diesel engines built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. This engine, which succeeded Winton's 201A, was used in EMD's locomotives from 1938 until its replacement in 1966 by the EMD 645. It ...

-engined units by small louvres at the top front sides of their hoods, as well as top-of-hood ventilation through several lifting vents rather than the large top grille of those later units. The series was much more successful than the during this early period; 114 were sold.

Pre-SC

Two pre-production units were built in February 1935; they differed from full production units by having a hood that did not taper in toward the cab, and six rather than three small louvres on each top front hood side. They were delivered to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad as 425 and 426. Both were re-engined with

engines in 1962. One, 426, was purchased by the

Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad The Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad is a shortline railroad operating in Northeastern Pennsylvania, especially the Scranton area. DL began service in August 1993 and is the designated operator for of trackage in Lackawanna, Wayne, Northampton, ...

and is on display at Steamtown National Historic Site in Lackawanna colors.

SC

43 cast-frame SC units were built between May 1936 and January 1939. They were delivered to a wide assortment of railroads: #

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

: 4 locomotives, #2301, 2151–2153 # Inland Steel: 3 locomotives, #40, 42 & 44 #

New York Central Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...

: 7 locomotives, #567-573 (CR&I) # Boston and Maine Railroad: 6 locomotives, #1103-1108 #

Chicago Great Western Railway The Chicago Great Western Railway was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. It was founded by Alpheus Beede Stickney in 1885 as a regional line between St. Paul and the Iowa state line called the Minnesot ...

: 3 locomotives, #5-7 # South Buffalo Railway: 2 locomotives, #50 and 51 #

River Terminal Railway A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...

: 1 locomotive, #50 # Electro-Motive Corporation: 1 locomotive, #620 to Canton #20 # Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad: 2 locomotives, #204 and 205 #

Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad The Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad was a Class III switching and terminal railroad, operating in Baltimore County. Owned for the majority of its existence by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the railroad primarily served Bethlehem Steel's Sp ...

: 3 locomotives, #51-53 # Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway: 1 locomotive, D438 #

: 4 locomotives, #9000-9003 #

Grand Trunk Western Railroad The Grand Trunk Western Railroad Company is an American subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway operating in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Since a corporate restructuring in 1971, the railroad has been under CN's subsidiary holding ...

: 2 locomotives, #7800-7801 #

Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey, also known as the Jersey Central or Jersey Central Lines , was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s. It was absorbed into Conrail in April 1976 along with several other prominent bankrupt railroads of ...

: 4 locomotives, #1005-1008 One SC locomotive still survives: Missouri Pacific 9001 (as Dardanelle & Russellville 14, a later owner) at the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview Hist ...

it is not operational.

SW

76 fabricated welded-frame SW units were built between December 1936 and January 1939. Original owners included: #

Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was a Class I railroad, operating between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary, Indiana. The railroad served as a link between Class I railroads traveling to and from Chicago, although it operated almost entirely wit ...

: 9 locomotives, #200-#208 # Reading Company: 6 locomotives, #10-15 #

: 1 locomotive, #51 #

Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago to southern Illinois, St. Louis, and Evansville. Founded in 1877, it grew aggressively and stayed relatively strong throughout the Great Depression and two Wor ...

: 2 locomotives, #100-#101 # Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad: 1 locomotive, #206 ALLN206

# Chicago and North Western: 1 locomotive #1201 # Inland Steel: 3 locomotives, #43, 45-46 #

Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (CRI&P RW, sometimes called ''Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway'') was an American Class I railroad. It was also known as the Rock Island Line, or, in its final years, The Rock. At the end ...

: 29 locomotives, #500-#528 #

Great Lakes Steel Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

: 2 locomotives, #6 and #7 # Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad: 6 locomotives, #9130-9135 #

Buffalo Creek Railroad Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the t ...

: 2 locomotives, #40-41 # Pennsylvania Railroad: 1 locomotive, #3908 # Steelton and Highspire Railroad: 1 locomotive, #32 #

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, ...

: 6 locomotives, #106-111 #

: 2 locomotives, #61-62 #

: 1 locomotive, #5 (UTSJ) # Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway: 1 locomotive, D838 # Union Terminal Railway: 1 locomotive, #10 (UTSJ) # Baltimore and Ohio Railroad: 1 locomotive #2 (B&OCT) Two SW locomotives survive, but neither retains the original Winton engine. PB&NE 206 was reengined with a 567CR block (R for ''counter-clockwise'' revolution) in 1955. The locomotive operated on both the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad (as #83) and Stewartstown Railroad (as #11). Since 2014, it has operated under its original #206 on the Allentown & Auburn Railroad in Kutztown, PA. While it now has an EMD 567C block, it retains its EMC electrical system and early lifting hood vents. Missouri Pacific #5 survives and operates as Thermal Belt Railway #1, repowered with a Cummins diesel.

N series

These locomotives were all nearly identical, except for cast versus welded underframes. The

Winton 201-A-engined NC and NW series locomotives can be distinguished from the less powerful SC and SW because, although the underframes are identical, the hood on the N series is longer, leaving only a small amount of room before the front walkway. Many, but not all, N series locomotives have a short electrical box with sharp-angled corners in that location; this is easily distinguished by the lower, longer, rounded-cornered "satchel" of the SC and SW series. The other distinguishing feature from the S series is the central location of the twin exhaust stacks; the S series have them offset towards the engineer's left, because of the inline diesel engine.

Pre-NC

One experimental locomotive was built in March 1935 as a demonstrator, numbered EMC 518. It was assembled by

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

. After demonstration purposes, it was sold to the Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad in October as #203, later renumbered to 55; it was later sold to the Parrish Line Railway as their #10.

NC

Five NC locomotives were built. Some had

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

electrical equipment, while others had Westinghouse, since EMC's own designs were not yet ready. This model did not have multiple unit equipment. They were: # EMC S/N 647:1 (built January 1938): Great Northern Railway #5101 (later #5300) rebuilt to an SW1200 in 1955. # EMC S/N 648:1 (built July 1937): Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad #208. # EMC S/N 649:1 (built July 1937): Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad #209. # EMC S/N 650 (built May 1937): Youngstown and Northern Railroad #201, to

#402 in April 1946, to Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England #55 # EMC S/N 651 (built May 1937): Youngstown and Northern Railroad #202, to Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad #408 in April 1946, to Marinette, Tomahawk & Western Railroad #408, then finally to the Sabine River and Northern Railroad as #408 before being preserved in the

National Museum of Transportation The National Museum of Transportation (NMOT) is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944, it restores, preserves, and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of Amer ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

NC1

Five NC1 locomotives were built during March 1937, all with Westinghouse electrics. The only difference between models NC and NC1 was the fitting of multiple unit connections to the NC1, to enable

multiple working On the UK rail network, multiple working is where two or more traction units (locomotives, diesel multiple-units or electric multiple-units) are coupled together in such a way that they are all under the control of one driver ( multiple-unit ...

. All were delivered to the

Birmingham Southern Railroad The Birmingham Southern Railroad was a short-line railroad in the Birmingham, Alabama, area. It ceased operating in 2012 when its assets were acquired by Watco's Birmingham Terminal Railway. History The Birmingham Southern Railroad Company was f ...

, as EMC S/N 642-646, BSR #71-75.

NC2

Two NC2 locomotives were built in July 1937 for the

. They were functionally identical to the NC1; Pinkepank states EMC as recording, enigmatically, "Wiring" as the difference. They were EMC S/N 714 and 715, MP #4100 and 4101.

NW

Eight NW locomotives were constructed between September 1937 and December 1938. They were identical to the NC except for the EMC-built welded underframes. The first three were built as EMC S/N 725-727 for the

as their #2350-2352, later renumbered #2400-2402 and rebuilt into SW1200s in 1959. Two were constructed as S/N 728 and 729 for the Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad as their #210 and 211, later renumbered as #53 and 54. Another two were built as S/N 730 and 731 for the Kansas City Terminal Railway as their #60 and 61. The final NW, S/N #732 was built for the Northern Pacific Railway as their #100. NP 100 was rebuilt to an SW900m in Jan 1957. It was in service on the

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

with same number and sold in 1983.

NW1

The NW1 was the only 201-A-engined N series locomotive model to be ordered in any significant number; 27 were built between November 1937 and January 1939. It had a lengthened hood and no electrical box in front of it as in the other N series models. Electrical equipment was

. Owning railroads were: #

: 2 locomotives, #400-401 #

: 11 locomotives, #120-130 # Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad: 2 locomotives, #9200-9201 # Great Northern Railway: 1 locomotive, #5102 (rebuilt to an SW8 #101) #

: 8 locomotives, #700-707 #

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

: 1 locomotive, #901 # Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway: 2 locomotives, D538 (now preserved at the

National Railroad Museum The National Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, US. Founded in 1956 by community volunteers, the National Railroad Museum is one of the oldest and largest U.S. institutions dedicated to preserving and i ...

, Green Bay, Wisconsin) and D738

NW1A

The NW1A, of which only 3 were built, was equipped with EMC-built traction motors, although the generator was still a General Electric unit. All were built for the Soo Line: EMC S/N 841-843, SOO #2100-2102.

NW4

The NW4, of which two examples were built for the

, used the hood and cab configuration of the regular N-series, but with an additional straight section between cab and hood, mounted on a lengthened frame with large air tanks on the front platform, in front of the radiator. The additional hood section contained a

steam generator A Steam generator is a device used to boil water to create steam. More specifically, it may refer to: *Boiler (steam generator), a closed vessel in which water is heated under pressure *Monotube steam generator *Supercritical steam generator or Ben ...

; The water tanks were mounted beneath the frame; the air tanks were therefore displaced to the front. The locomotives ran on AAR type B trucks re-used from EMC boxcab demonstrators #511 and 512. The two NW4s were EMC S/N 823 and 824, and were MP #4102 and 4103. They were scrapped in 1961.

T

The solitary EMC transfer locomotive classified T was built in May 1936 for the

as their 9201, but soon renumbered as 9202. The bodywork was built by

St. Louis Car Company The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, interurbans, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887 to 1974, based in St. Louis, Missouri. History The St. Louis Car Company ...

and the electrical equipment was by

. The main frame rested on two subframe bolsters which were articulated together; the four two-axle trucks were mounted to the bolsters, giving it a B-B+B-B

wheel arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

. The locomotive was a center-cab design, with twin hoods extending in both directions, each containing a

Winton 201-A

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

of , giving . The locomotive's main underframe sagged over time, and was returned to EMD for straightening and gusseting for extra strength. The locomotive was scrapped in 1950.

Notes

References

* Technical data. * * * * * Contains fairly complete builders' records for early EMD production. {{Diesel_Switchers B-B locomotives Winton-engined switchers Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Shunting locomotives