The SD20-2 was a type of
diesel-electric locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...
created in 1979/1980 by the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad by rebuilding
EMD SD35
An EMD SD35 is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between June 1964 and January 1966. Power was provided by an EMD 567D3A, 16-cylinder engine which generated . A fuel tank was used on this unit. ...
locomotives.
Five of the B&O's SD35 fleet were rebuilt at their Cumberland Yard by fitting a non-
turbocharged EMD 645
The EMD 645 is a family of diesel engines that was designed and manufactured by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. While the 645 series was intended primarily for locomotive, marine and stationary engine use, one 16-cylinder versio ...
engine and upgraded electrical systems.
They were placed in service at the
B&O Queensgate Yard in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...
attached to
slugs
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced shell, or only a sma ...
, engineless units with
traction motor
A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit.
Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles ( electric multiple ...
s that draw their power from the "mother" unit.
With the B&O, the SD20-2s were numbered #7700–7704. At some point, #7700 and #7702 swapped numbers. All of them passed to
CSX Transportation as #2400-2404, but are now withdrawn from CSX service. One of the units, #2401, went on to the
Ohio Central Railroad System
The Ohio Central Railroad System is a network of ten short line railroads operating in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. It is owned by Genesee & Wyoming
Headquartered in Coshocton, Ohio, the system operates of track divided among 10 subsidiary r ...
; #2401 was in turn resold to the
Pacific Harbor Line
The Pacific Harbor Line was formed in 1998 to take over the Harbor Belt Line (HBL). In 1998, the Alameda Corridor was nearing completion, allowing for a massive amount of railroad traffic from the largest harbors in the Western hemisphere: Po ...
and reassigned road #45 (pictured at right). #2404 was
scrapped by
Cycle Systems of
Roanoke, Virginia
Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...
in August 2006.
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 ...
References
External links
The History of EMD Diesel Enginesat th
Pacific Southwest Railwayofficial website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sd20-2
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
C-C locomotives
Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Railway locomotives introduced in 1979