The EMD SW1001 is a

diesel 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 whee ...

for industrial switching service built by

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

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 ...

between September 1968 and June 1986. A total of 230 were constructed, mainly for North American railroads and industrial operations. The SW1001 was developed because EMD's SW1000 model had proved unpopular among industrial railroad customers, as the heights of its walkway and cab eaves were much greater than those of earlier EMD switcher models. The overall height was similar, but the SW1000's roof was much flatter in curvature. Industrial railroads that only operated switchers often had facilities designed to the proportions of EMD's earlier switchers. The SW1001, in essence, placed the hood and powertrain of the SW1000 with the

underframe An underframe is a framework of wood or metal carrying the main body structure of a railway vehicle, such as a locomotive, carriage or wagon. See also * Chassis * Headstock * Locomotive bed * Locomotive frame * Undercarriage Undercarriage is t ...

and cab of the earlier

SW1200 An EMD SW1200 is a 4 axle diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and May 1966. Power is provided by an EMD 567C 12-cylinder engine which generates . Additional SW1200 production was complet ...

. The

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 ...

-series

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-call ...

had a deeper crankcase and oil pan than the SW1200's

EMD 567 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 ...

-series engine. The engine had to be mounted on risers for sufficient clearance, raising the whole hood about above the walkway compared to the SW1000, and requiring a spacer under the hood. The cab was similar to that of the SW1200, but not identical; it is longer, and has a different window arrangement. The SW1001 uses the same

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

plates as the SW1000; given the lower frame height, these protrude above the walkway deck height, giving the most obvious SW1001 spotting feature.

Export models

The SW1001 locomotive type was used in a number of countries outside the USA: in the Americas four units were bought by Canadian businesses; two by

Saskatchewan Power Saskatchewan Power Corporation, operating as SaskPower, is the principal electric utility in Saskatchewan, Canada. Established in 1929 by the provincial government, it serves more than 538,000 customers and manages over $11.8 billion in assets. Sa ...

and two by the

National Harbours Board The National Harbours Board was an agency of the Government of Canada, reporting to Parliament through the Minister of Transport. It was in operation from 1936 to 1983. History The idea of a system of national ports was mooted as early as 1905, whe ...

. 18 by companies in Mexico: 12 by AHMSA, three by Lazaro Cardenas Steel (

ArcelorMittal ArcelorMittal S.A. is a Luxembourgian multinational steel manufacturing corporation headquartered in Luxembourg City. It was formed in 2006 from the takeover and merger of Arcelor by Indian-owned Mittal Steel. ArcelorMittal is the second larg ...

), and 3 by

Pemex Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexican state-owned petroleum company managed and operated by the Mexican government. It was formed in 1938 by nationalization and expr ...

. In Africa five were supplied to the Boke project in

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

in the early 1970s and 18 were acquired by the railways of Morocco (

ONCF ONCF (from French: ''Office National des Chemins de Fer''; ar, المكتب الوطني للسكك الحديدية ''Al-Maktab al-Waṭaniy lil-Sikak al-Ḥadīdiyyah''; ''Moroccan National Railways Office'') is Morocco's national railway ope ...

) in 1982 as type DI 500. In Asia the

Korean National Railway The Korea Railroad Corporation (Korean: 한국철도공사, Hanja: ), branded as KORAIL (코레일, officially changed to in November 2019), is the national railway operator in South Korea. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, manage ...

acquired 28 between 1969 and 1971. One was acquired in 1980 by

Foster Yeoman Foster Yeoman Limited, based near Frome, Somerset, England, was one of Europe's largest independent quarrying and asphalt companies. It was sold to Aggregate Industries in 2006. History The company was founded by Foster Yeoman, from Hartlepool, ...

(vehicle code Y44), and another by Hanson Aggregates in 2000 both for use on quarry industrial sites in the England. They are based at Whatley Quarry and Merehead Quarry, both part of

Mendip Rail Mendip Rail Ltd is an independent freight operating railway company in Great Britain. It is a joint venture composed of the rail-operation divisions of Aggregate Industries (formerly Foster Yeoman) and Hanson Aggregates (previously ARC). The c ...

operations. Five were bought for the government railways of Saudi Arabia in 1981. Additionally 60 variants with a redesigned cab were built under license as the

Renfe Class 310 The Renfe Class 310 is a class of 60 four axle Bo'Bo' diesel-electric locomotives for shunting and freight built by Meinfesa with General Motors Electromotive Division components (engine, electrical transmission). In the mid-2000s 4 units were c ...

for the railways of Spain between 1989 and 1991.

References

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External links

The EMD SW1001
''American-Rails.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Emd Sw1001 B-B locomotives SW1001 Diesel locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1968 Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Standard gauge locomotives of Canada Standard gauge locomotives of Mexico Standard gauge locomotives of Guinea Standard gauge locomotives of South Korea Standard gauge locomotives of Morocco Standard gauge locomotives of Saudi Arabia Shunting locomotives