The EMD SW1500 is a diesel-electric

switcher locomotive A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), station pilot (British English), or shifter locomotive (Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distanc ...

built by

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

Electro-Motive Division Electro-Motive Diesel (abbreviated EMD) is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010. Electro-Motiv ...

from 1966 to 1974. The SW1500 replaced the SW1200 in the EMD product line. Many railroads regularly used SW1500s for road freight service. It is similar in appearance to the EMD SW1000 model which has a different engine and has one exhaust stack while the SW1500 has two.

Original owners

Preservation

Many SW1500s remain in active service, used mostly by shortlines,

switching and terminal railroads A switching and terminal railroad is a freight railroad company whose primary purpose is to perform local switching services or to own and operate a terminal facility. Switching is a type of operation done within the limits of a yard. It gener ...

, and railroad equipment leasing companies such as

GATX GATX Corporation is a railcar lessor that owns fleets in North America, Europe, and Asia. In addition, jointly with Rolls-Royce Limited, it owns one of the largest aircraft spare engine lease portfolios. It is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. ...

. However, several examples of this popular model have been preserved: *

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Railroad classes, Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of trac ...

#1100 (built 1970 as L&N #5000) is preserved and operational at the

Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation The Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation (KSHCO) is a nonprofit organization based on the border between Irvine, Kentucky, Irvine and Ravenna, Kentucky, Ravenna, Kentucky. The organization mainly focuses on the restoration of Chesapeake and Ohio R ...

Irvine, Kentucky Irvine () is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in Estill County, Kentucky, Estill County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the county seat, seat of its county. Its population was 2,715 at the time of the 2010 United States Cens ...

. * CSX #1103 (built 1970 as L&N #5003) is preserved and operational at the

Kentucky Railway Museum The Kentucky Railway Museum, now located in New Haven, Kentucky, United States, is a non-profit railroad museum dedicated to educating the public regarding the history and heritage of Kentucky's railroads and the people who built them. Origina ...

New Haven, Kentucky New Haven is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in Nelson County, Kentucky, Nelson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 855 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Geography New Haven is located adjacent to ...

* Western Pacific #1503 (built 1970) is preserved and operational at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in

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 a ...

. It was donated to the museum by

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

in 2011, and restored to its original paint scheme in 2019. * Wisconsin Central #1563 (built 1971) is preserved and operational 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 ...

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

. It was donated to the museum by

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

in 2019.

References

* * *

External links

* {{Diesel_switchers B-B locomotives Diesel–electric locomotives of the United States SW1500 Railway locomotives introduced in 1966 Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Shunting locomotives Great Northern Railway (United States) locomotives Philadelphia and Reading Railroad locomotives Southern Pacific Railroad locomotives Diesel locomotives of Southern Railway (U.S.) St. Louis–San Francisco Railway locomotives Union Pacific Railroad locomotives Western Pacific Railroad locomotives

Original owners

Preservation

See also

References

External links