The EMD SW8 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 inte ...
locomotive manufactured by
General Motors Electro-Motive Division and
General Motors Diesel between September 1950 and February 1954. Power is supplied by an
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 h ...
B 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 infi ...
engine, for a total of . A total of
309 of this model were built for
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
railroads and 65 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. Starting in October 1953 a number of SW8s were built with either the 567BC or 567C engine.
US Army SW8s
The
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
ordered 41 SW8s, numbered 2000–2040, for service in Korea during the Korean War. These were shipped in the spring of 1951.
After the
Korean War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Korean War
, partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict
, image = Korean War Montage 2.png
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Clockwise from top: ...
, many US Army-owned SW8s were turned over to the
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n government while others were retained by the Army and assigned to various Army posts, depots and ammunition plants. Most were retired around 1990 and replaced in service by rebuilt geeps, such as GP10s from VMV in Paducah, KY, and other rebuilders.
Of all of the locomotives turned over to the Korean National Railroad, only one, KNR #2001, believed to be ex-USAX #2011, still exists. As of May 2011 it was stored in the back of a locomotive shed in the Korea Railroad Busan Rolling Stock Workshop, 125 Sincheon-ro, Busanjin-gu, Busan, Korea 614-765. Diesel Locomotive Team Leader Kim Hyun-Sik stated KORAIL is in talks with the city of Pusan to put the locomotive on display in the city as a part of Korea's heritage, as it is the oldest diesel locomotive in the country.
Two examples of these locomotives, ex-USAX #2019 and #2022, are preserved at the
Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Alabama. After serving in Korea
#2019was sent back to the manufacturer for reconditioning in 1953
#2022was rebuilt in 1955. Both served in military bases in the United States until the early 1990s, finishing their careers at Fort Campbell, Ky. The Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum acquired them in 1995.
Other models
In addition, 12 TR6
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 ...
paired sets were produced.
In May 1953, a single example of the SW8 was built with a
hydraulic
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
transmission as model DH2. This locomotive was displayed at a trade show in 1955, but no sales of the DH2 followed. The locomotive was rebuilt with a standard electrical transmission, and served EMD as plant switcher #105 until 1968.
The first TR6A,
Southern Pacific 4600, later numbered 1100, is preserved at the
Western Pacific Railroad Museum
The Western Pacific Railroad Museum (WPRM) in Portola, California, known as the Portola Railroad Museum until January 1, 2006, is a heritage railroad and archives that preserves and operates historic American railroad equipment and preserves d ...
at
Portola, California
Portola ( ) is the only incorporated city in Plumas County, California, United States. The population was 2,104 at the 2010 census, down from 2,227 at the 2000 census. Portola is located on the Middle Fork of the Feather River and was named afte ...
.
Original buyers
SW8
Locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA
Locomotives built by General Motors Diesel, Canada
TR6
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 locomotives ...
*
List of GMD Locomotives
References
*
* EMD Product Reference Data Card dated January 1, 1959 has the 567BC and 567C engine data used in the as-built roster.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Emd Sw8
SW0008
SW0008
B-B locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1950
Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States
Locomotives with cabless variants
Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Standard gauge locomotives of Canada
Standard gauge locomotives of South Korea
Diesel-electric locomotives of Canada
Diesel-electric locomotives of South Korea
Shunting locomotives