EMD SW900
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The EMD SW900 is a diesel
switcher A switcher, shunter, yard pilot, switch engine, yard goat, or shifter is a small railroad locomotive used for manoeuvring railroad cars inside a rail yard in a process known as ''switching'' (US) or ''shunting'' (UK). Switchers are not inten ...
locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
built by
General Motors Electro-Motive Division Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its sub ...
and
General Motors Diesel General Motors Diesel was a railway diesel locomotive manufacturer located in London, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1949 as the Canadian subsidiary of the Electro-Motive Diesel division of General Motors (EMD). In 1969 it was re-organiz ...
(GMD) between December 1953 and March 1969. Power was provided by an
EMD 567C The EMD 567 is a line of large medium-speed diesel engines built by Electro-Motive Diesel, General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. This engine, which succeeded Winton Motor Carriage Company, Winton's 201A, was used in EMD's locomotives from 193 ...
8-
cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...
engine that generated 900
horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
(670 kW). Built concurrently with the SW1200, the eight-cylinder units had a single exhaust stack. The last two SW900s built by GMD for British Columbia Hydro were built with 8 cylinder 645E engines rated at . 260 examples of this locomotive model were built for
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
railroads and 97 were built for
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
railroads. Canadian production of the SW900 lasted three and a half years past EMD production. Seven units were exported to Orinoco Mining Co (Venezuela); two units were exported to Southern Peru Copper Co; and five units were exported to the Liberian American-Swedish Minerals Company. Total production is 371 units. Some SW900s were built with the generators from traded in
EMC Winton-engined switchers 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, ...
and were classified as SW900M by EMD. Units rebuilt from SW or SC model locomotives developed 600 or 660 horsepower with the older generators instead of the full 900 horsepower of the SW900. In the early 1960s, the
Reading Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...
sent 14 of their Baldwin VO 1000 model switchers to EMD to have them rebuilt to SW900 specifications. The Reading units retained the Baldwin switcher carbody and were rated at 1000 horsepower by EMD. A
Cow-calf In rail transport, a cow-calf (also cow and calf) locomotive is a set of switcher-type diesel locomotives. The set usually is a pair; some 3-unit sets (with two calves, also known as herds) were built, but this was rare. A cow is equipped with a ...
variation, the TR9, was cataloged, but none were built.


Original buyers


Built by Electro-Motive Division, USA


Built by General Motors Diesel, Canada


External links

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See also

*
List of GM-EMD locomotives The following is a list of locomotives produced by the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC), and its successors General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD) and Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD). Streamlined power cars and early experimental locomotive ...
*
List of GMD Locomotives The following is a list of locomotives produced by General Motors Diesel (GMD), and its corporate successor Electro-Motive Diesel, Electro-Motive Canada (EMC). The NF-110 and NF-210 locomotive models were narrow gauge railway, narrow gauge locomot ...


References

* * Extra 2200 South Volume 7 No.3 August September 1968 page 3 * Northern Pacific Railway Diesel Era 1945-1970


External links


EMD Serials

EMD Trade In Serials

EMD Export Serials

GMD Serials
B-B locomotives SW0900 SW0900 Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1954 Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Standard gauge locomotives of Canada Standard gauge locomotives of Peru Standard gauge locomotives of Venezuela Diesel-electric locomotives of Canada Diesel-electric locomotives of Peru Diesel-electric locomotives of Venezuela {{diesel-loco-stub Shunting locomotives