EMD SW1500
{{Short description|Model of 1500 hp American diesel switching locomotive}}
{{Infobox locomotive
| name = EMD SW1500
| powertype = Diesel
| gauge = {{track gauge|ussg|allk=on}}
| image = metra4sw1500.jpg
| caption = NIRC 4 performs switching duties near Chicago Union Station
| builder = General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
| aarwheels = B-B
| primemover = EMD 645
| builddate = June 1966 – January 1974
| totalproduction = 808
| locale = North America South America
| poweroutput = {{convert|1500|hp|kW|0|abbr=on|lk=in}}
| maxspeed =
| locoweight = {{convert|248000|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}
| t/e continuous = {{convert|42250|lbf|kN|2|abbr=on}}{{cite web| author=GATX Rail Locomotive Group| url=http://www.gatx.com/rail/locomotive_group/SW1500.asp| title=SW1500| access-date=March 20, 2005| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080906113207/http://www.gatx.com/rail/locomotive_group/SW1500.asp| archive-date=September 6, 2008}}
| length = {{convert|44|ft|8|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
| enginetype = V12 2-stroke diesel
| aspiration = Roots blower
| displacement = {{convert|9072|in3|L|0|abbr=on}}
| tractionmotors = D77/78DC
| generator = Main: D32
| transmission = Diesel-electric
| locobrakes = Straight air
| trainbrakes = Air
| buildmodel = SW1500
}}
The EMD SW1500 is a {{convert|1500|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division from 1966 to 1974.{{Cite book|last=Solomon|first=Brian|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tigVDAAAQBAJ&dq=sw1500+vs+sw1200+size&pg=PA43|title=Field Guide to Trains: Locomotives and Rolling Stock|date=2016-06-15|publisher=Voyageur Press|isbn=978-0-7603-4997-7|language=en}} 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.{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Gerald L. |title=A field guide to trains of North America |date=1996 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |location=Boston |isbn=0-395-70112-0 |pages=11, 16}}
Original owners
| class="wikitable"
! colspan="3" bgcolor="#909060" | Domestic (US/Export) orders | ||
| Railroad
! Quantity ! Road numbers | ||
|---|---|---|
| align="center"
|18 |1500–1517 | ||
| align="center"
|1 |9 | ||
| align="center"
|Apalachicola Northern Railroad |8 |712–719 | ||
| align="center"
|Armco Steel |5 |701–705 | ||
| align="center"
|Ashley, Drew and Northern Railroad |1 |150 | ||
| align="center"
|Angelina and Neches River Railroad |1 |1500 | ||
| align="center"
|3 |530–532 | ||
| align="center"
|15 |310–324 | ||
| align="center"
|2 |15, 16 | ||
| align="center"
|1 |100 | ||
| align="center"
|2 |30, 31 | ||
| align="center"
|General Motors Electro-Motive Division |9 |106–114 | ||
| align="center"
|5 |1401–1402, 1405, 1503–1504 | ||
| align="center"
|W.R. Grace Chemical |2 |101, 102 | ||
| align="center"
|10 |200–209 | ||
| align="center"
|Houston Belt and Terminal Railway |6 |50–55 | ||
| align="center"
|Howe Coal |2 |1, 2 | ||
| align="center"
|27 |9200–9221, 9223–9227 | ||
| align="center"
|7 |1509–1515 | ||
| align="center"
|5 |24, 26, 30–32 | ||
| align="center"
|Inland Steel |7 |119–125 | ||
| align="center"
|42 |1500–1541 | ||
| align="center"
|Kentucky and Indiana Terminal Railroad |16 |67–68, 70–83 | ||
| align="center"
|Lake Erie, Franklin and Clarion Railroad |2 |23, 24 | ||
| align="center"
|Longview, Portland and Northern Railway |1 |130 | ||
| align="center"
|Louisville and Nashville Railroad |30 |5000–5029 | ||
| align="center"
|Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway |2 |36–37 | ||
| align="center"
|Minnesota Taconite US Steel |6 |949–954 | ||
| align="center"
|7 |300–306 | ||
| align="center"
|1 |64 | ||
| align="center"
|Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad |6 |50–55 | ||
| align="center"
|4 |1518–1521 | ||
| align="center"
|New Orleans Public Belt Railroad |3 |151–153 | ||
| align="center"
|Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad |2 |160, 161 | ||
| align="center"
|84 |9500–9583 | ||
| align="center"
|Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad |40 |1534–1563, 9280–9289 | ||
| align="center"
|21 |2750–2770 | ||
| align="center"
|Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad |9 |1–8, 91 | ||
| align="center"
|10 |940–949 | ||
| align="center"
|Roscoe, Snyder and Pacific Railway |2 |500, 600 | ||
| align="center"
|St. Mary's Railroad |1 |503 | ||
| align="center"
|2 |100, 300 | ||
| align="center"
|St. Louis–San Francisco Railway |46 |315–360 | ||
| align="center"
|48 |2300–2347 | ||
| align="center"
|204 |2450–2480, 2493–2510, 2523–2578, 2591–2689 | ||
| align="center"
|St. Louis Southwestern Railway |36 |2481–2492, 2511–2522, 2579–2590 | ||
| align="center"
|Tennessee Copper |1 |108 | ||
| align="center"
|Tennessee Eastman Corporation |1 |1 | ||
| align="center"
|Terminal Railroad Alabama State Docks |2 |681, 682 | ||
| align="center"
|Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis |17 |1501–1517 | ||
| align="center"
|Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad |4 |303–306 | ||
| align="center"
|9 |1–9 | ||
| align="center"
|U S Pipe and Foundry |4 |51–54 | ||
| align="center"
|1 |501 | ||
| align="center" | Weyerhaeuser Timber Co.
|2 |306, 307 | |
| align="center"
|1 |13 | ||
| align="center"
|3 |1501–1503 | ||
| align="center" | ||
| colspan="3" bgcolor="#909060" | Export orders | ||
| align="center"
|1 |5 | ||
| Total | 808 |
Preservation
Many SW1500s remain in active service, used mostly by shortlines, switching and terminal railroads, and railroad equipment leasing companies such as GATX. However, several examples of this popular model have been preserved:
- CSX #1100 (built 1970 as L&N #5000) is preserved and operational at the Kentucky Steam Heritage Corporation in Irvine, Kentucky.{{Cite web |title=Kentucky Steam Heritage Equipment |url=https://www.kentuckysteam.org/equipment |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=Kentucky Steam |language=en}}
- CSX #1103 (built 1970 as L&N #5003) is preserved and operational at the Kentucky Railway Museum in New Haven, Kentucky
- Western Pacific #1503 (built 1970) is preserved and operational at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California.{{Cite web |title=Western Pacific 1503 |url=https://tour.wplives.org/WP1503/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=tour.wplives.org}} It was donated to the museum by Union Pacific 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 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was donated to the museum by Canadian National in 2019.{{Cite web |date=2019-11-17 |title=CN donates locomotive to Green Bay museum {{!}} Trains Magazine |url=https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/13-cn-donates-locomotive-to-green-bay-museum/ |access-date=2024-03-09 |website=Trains |language=en-US}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
- {{cite journal| title=808 SW1500's| first=Dan| last=Dover| pages=22–24| journal=Extra 2200 South| date=January–February 1974}}
- {{cite book|editor-last=Hayden| editor-first=Bob|title=Model Railroader Cyclopedia-Volume 2: Diesel Locomotives|publisher=Kalmbach Books|year=1980|isbn=0-89024-547-9}}
- {{cite book|last=Pinkepank| first=Jerry A.|title=The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide|publisher=Kalmbach Publishing Co., Milwaukee, WI|year=1973|isbn=0-89024-026-4}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline|EMD SW1500 locomotives}}
{{Amtrak rolling stock}}
{{Diesel_switchers}}
Category:Diesel–electric locomotives of the United States
Category:Railway locomotives introduced in 1966
Category:Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States
Category:Great Northern Railway (United States) locomotives
Category:Philadelphia and Reading Railroad locomotives
Category:Southern Pacific Railroad locomotives
Category:Diesel locomotives of Southern Railway (U.S.)
Category:St. Louis–San Francisco Railway locomotives