In 1950, at the age of 5, I enjoyed a wonderful summer at my grandmother's small Montana wheat ranch which she shared with her brother and sister. A Great Northern branch line right of way that connected Great Falls eastwards to Lewistown ran through one side of the farm, about 400 yards across a pasture south of the house. GN operated a three-times-a-week local passenger train between Great Falls and Lewistown. It consisted of a Railway Post Office and Railway Express combine car and a heavyweight day coach, both freshly painted in the new Empire Builder scheme of orange and Pullman green with gold trim and lettering. Motive power was provided by a similarly painted SW3 with its distinctively elongated rear hood to house a steam generator, similar to the unit on static display at the Whitefish Depot. The train came east from Great Falls in the afternoon, crossing through the pasture at about supper time. The crew must have laid over in Lewistown before heading back west to Great Falls early the next morning. It made mail and occasional passenger stops in both directions at the tiny villages of Moccasin and Kolin which bracketed the ranch. Every morning just after sunrise, about 6 AM, I guess, I would jump out of bed in my second story room, race to the window, and look east toward Kolin. If I could see the train's headlight, I'd pull on my shoes and start heading over to the tracks to wave to the cab crew as they rocketed by at probably 25, or maybe as much as 30 MPH. It was the most exciting thing that would happen that day! I'm an avid O scale 3-rail model railroader and have been wishing for at least 20 years now that one of the manufacturers would offer an S3 so I can relive that halcyon summer's frequent encounters with the prototype that made such a big impression on me at age 5. So far, no luck, so I have to settle for an Atlas and an MTH GN pair of NW-3s. Oh well, it's not a perfect world.
Another excellent reference is the long out of publication Kalmbach book "Our GM Scrapbook", featuring articles from Trains magazine illustrating the development of EMD locomotives. In one section entitled "Cows, Calves, and Herds" there are multiple side by side photos of the various TR configurations.
great video. To point out that the trucks on most switchers of EMD were the AAR type while some roads ordered flexicoil trucks. The flexicoil allowed a better ride and slightly higher speeds. The Bloomberg B style truck on the MP-series was step up from the flexicoils.
Good video explaining each locomotive. Side note at 8:00, 30 went to the Atlantic & Western and was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum. As for 31, it was bought by the Monticello Railway Museum and plans to return it to C&IM colors.
The Victorian Railways Australia version is called the EMD G6B and were powered by an EMD 6 cylinder 567C/645E power plant the road numbers were Y101-Y175
The Amtrak "SW1000R"s were rebuilds of old MKT SW9s by NRE. Two of them (790 and 791) languished out of service underneath the old Harrison Street post office adjacent to Chicago Union Station for years. They were finally pulled out and scrapped sometime in the last 5 years or so. They were there forever though and still worked until maybe 2010 or 2011. Some others stayed around in service for longer(and might still be in service) in Washington D.C.
I remember seeing the Blue and Yellow switcher at about the 6 minute mark at a grain elevator or similar industry in either Iowa or Minnesota when I first started trucking in 2017. There was an old Conrail switcher and some first gen geeps at other industries along that same back road. This one stuck out because it used to be owned(I think it was just a parts unit at that point) by a Chicago area shortline/locomotive leasing outfit. It just sat stored on this industry lead near O'Hare airport for years before UP kicked them off that line, then it and another switcher sat near Rochelle for a while. It made the rounds around the midwest before ending up in Ohio for a rebuild and new coat of paint. It was still in faded Amtrak colors beforehand with ATSF paint shining through. It was one of the many rebuilt "SSB1200s" that ATSF traded to Amtrak for the SDP40s(or whatever models they were) Glad to see her kicking around, as I was sure she would end up on the deadline at NRE or LTEX
I've actually been researching this locomotive for my new switcher special series. From my research, I've gathered that it was built for ATSF in '53, renumbered a few times, rebuilt to SSB1200 specs, then sold to AmTrak (during their trade of '84 with the SDP40's), and renumbered to 554. After that, it gets a bit confusing. Sometime in the mid 2000's, it was owned by DRSX, then later TANX. During this time, it stuck around IL for a while. When it was TANX 1253, it was in Rochelle sitting next to another switcher, which matches what you've said. I think it was acquired by MVPX in 2013, where it was repainted in Cleveland. It has been sitting in Brewster, MN since at least 2019. For some reason, in their repainting, they labeled it as a regular SW9. Some sources suggest that it has been downgraded or modified to maybe a more stock configuration, but I'm unsure. This may have been the rebuilding in Ohio that you speak of. If you have any more information, please let me know, and I do appreciate this and any more you send my way.
@@brookingsrail I honestly think the SSB1200 desgination was little more than your standard 70s-80s EMD rebuild. It seems the least intrusive off all of the similar switcher rebuilds of that time, (UP's SW10 and IC's SW14). I think they just redisignated it as an SW9 to make it easier to sell. I guess SSB1200 is an unofficial designation. The company that rebuilt it had a bunch of pictures of it at that roundhouse in Cleveland being rebuilt and repainted. If you search on facebook, the photos should pop up. At this point any 12 cylinder 567 powered switcher is mechanically about the same. They are probably upgraded to 567BC or and have 645 power assemblies. I think it really just boils down to how good the chassis and draft gear is at this point. But yeah TANX 1253 first came onto my radar around 2007. DRSX (Dot Rail Services of Granville, Il) was the parent company to the Central Illinois Railway Company. They had a contract switching company and a track repair company as well. I don't think the 1210 and 1211 were around for very long before being sold off. They used an ex IC SW14 to switch Centex Industrial Park in Elk Grove Village, but stored those two switchers there. I think they were both sold off right after they got kicked out of Elk Grove in favor of Chicago Terminal Railroad.(UP has since kicked them out as well in favor of The Chicago Junction Railroad) About that time the next year(2008) The blue SW1200 that it was coupled to at Elk Grove and Rochelle showed up at NRE Dixmoor and was repainted there.
Thank you for the video, however I must correct you a bit on the current states of both RS1325's. They were initially built for the CNW to use in their Chicago yards for switching and passenger service, but the CNW weren't intersted. It wasn't until the C&IM purchased both prototypes, 30 and 31, off the showroom floor. They'd both serve the C&IM, and current G&W IMRR until 2016 when 30 went to the ATW, another G&W subsidiary. 31 remained with the IMRR until retired and sold for scrap in 2020 when the Monticello Railway Museum purchased the locomotive, which is still operating at the museum today. 30 was just recently donated as of 2022 by the ATW to the Illinois Railway Museum. Hope this info helps. Keep up the good work
The 567 and 645 are the exact same size. I can say this with authority as I am an EMD certified locomotive mechanic for a short line railroad in Texas. I have been doing locomotive work for seventeen years. The 710 engine is in fact larger than the 567 or the 645. The 645 power assemblies will fit into a 567c block. Variants of the A, B, and C blocks are, A, AB,AC, CA, B, BC, C. I personally haven’t seen such variations in the D or E blocks. D and E block units usually have a number after the letter. Auxiliary systems often account for variations in car the car body or frame design. Systems such as inertial filters, Far air filter systems often are the cause for car body oddities. The SW of Union Pacific fame is a very good variant rebuilt from early SW units using C blocks, D32 main generator, AC auxiliary generator, D14 companion alternator, GP style radiators and fans, as well as the -1 excitation system. To accommodate the D14, without cutting the castings in the welded frame, they welded I beams to the frame to make new mounts for the engine and main generator assembly. The bulk of the car body is about nine inches taller from having skirts added at the base. The raised radiator section with electric cooling fans are obvious spotting features. Of the 1200 horsepower units the 10s are my favorite as they are practically bomb proof. Their only fault is being set up in permanent series parallel on the traction motors. The ones I have worked on got reconfigured to full series. This allows a better low speed grunt pulling advantage. They do okay as UP built them but for industrial work the modification becomes a lifesaver.
Missing: Lehigh Valley SW8 no's 256-273. These were the only SW's ever built with dynamic brakes straight from the factory. They were known as the "Delano Pups".
Thank You .... This video was an interesting clarification on Switchers; an important Loco then and now. A constructive suggestion : Drop the ( over-powering ) background music or significantly reduce the volume ( The tunes themselves are apt ). Regards + Cheers For Now / Johnny
I hope I'm not the only one who thinks EMD's old horsepower coding scheme was stupid (e.g., "S" for "six hundred", "N" for "nine hundred"). This creates ambiguities; for example, "S" could just as well have meant "seven hundred". And just as bad, you can't compare two horsepowers just by their relative position in the alphabet. Ugh.
B had cousin called A block, they both leaked. Gave birth to 567AC and 567BC with mid deck changed to 567C. Round hand hole with square on bottom. Good video, thank you
Geeeeeeeeez, you're kidding me, right?? Polka music...either you're polish in ethnicity or grew up in that region of the country. Lol I'm just kidding...I actually enjoy some polka...wonder what that says about me?!
Very informative video except for the annoying music!!! What in the world makes you think people want to hear that!!! It takes away from the video. I turned it off only after watching it for a few minutes because I could not concentrate on what you were saying! Please, don’t ruin another video by adding that worthless music!!!!
One limitation of the end-cab switcher design is that without a short hood, there is no place for a potty, which limits their use in road service.
I enjoyed this. I don't know which models specifically, but saw a lot of these various models up where I lived in Montana.
In 1950, at the age of 5, I enjoyed a wonderful summer at my grandmother's small Montana wheat ranch which she shared with her brother and sister. A Great Northern branch line right of way that connected Great Falls eastwards to Lewistown ran through one side of the farm, about 400 yards across a pasture south of the house. GN operated a three-times-a-week local passenger train between Great Falls and Lewistown. It consisted of a Railway Post Office and Railway Express combine car and a heavyweight day coach, both freshly painted in the new Empire Builder scheme of orange and Pullman green with gold trim and lettering. Motive power was provided by a similarly painted SW3 with its distinctively elongated rear hood to house a steam generator, similar to the unit on static display at the Whitefish Depot. The train came east from Great Falls in the afternoon, crossing through the pasture at about supper time. The crew must have laid over in Lewistown before heading back west to Great Falls early the next morning. It made mail and occasional passenger stops in both directions at the tiny villages of Moccasin and Kolin which bracketed the ranch. Every morning just after sunrise, about 6 AM, I guess, I would jump out of bed in my second story room, race to the window, and look east toward Kolin. If I could see the train's headlight, I'd pull on my shoes and start heading over to the tracks to wave to the cab crew as they rocketed by at probably 25, or maybe as much as 30 MPH. It was the most exciting thing that would happen that day!
I'm an avid O scale 3-rail model railroader and have been wishing for at least 20 years now that one of the manufacturers would offer an S3 so I can relive that halcyon summer's frequent encounters with the prototype that made such a big impression on me at age 5. So far, no luck, so I have to settle for an Atlas and an MTH GN pair of NW-3s. Oh well, it's not a perfect world.
Another excellent reference is the long out of publication Kalmbach book "Our GM Scrapbook", featuring articles from Trains magazine illustrating the development of EMD locomotives. In one section entitled "Cows, Calves, and Herds" there are multiple side by side photos of the various TR configurations.
Thanks, this has helped a lot.
Living in Australia I sometimes struggle to get correct information.👍
great video. To point out that the trucks on most switchers of EMD were the AAR type while some roads ordered flexicoil trucks. The flexicoil allowed a better ride and slightly higher speeds. The Bloomberg B style truck on the MP-series was step up from the flexicoils.
Good video explaining each locomotive. Side note at 8:00, 30 went to the Atlantic & Western and was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum. As for 31, it was bought by the Monticello Railway Museum and plans to return it to C&IM colors.
I've loved "The Entertainer" since I was a kid, about the time I had an HO scale Santa Fe switcher.
The Victorian Railways Australia version is called the EMD G6B and were powered by an EMD 6 cylinder 567C/645E power plant the road numbers were Y101-Y175
Good overall info on classic EMD switchers. Thanks!
THANK YOU FOR CLEARING THAT UP I WAS CONFUSED
I saw CRR NW3 in the scrap line,,Erwin,Tn.
It was next to the last CRR F7A that went to scrap.
1978.
The Amtrak "SW1000R"s were rebuilds of old MKT SW9s by NRE. Two of them (790 and 791) languished out of service underneath the old Harrison Street post office adjacent to Chicago Union Station for years. They were finally pulled out and scrapped sometime in the last 5 years or so. They were there forever though and still worked until maybe 2010 or 2011. Some others stayed around in service for longer(and might still be in service) in Washington D.C.
I remember seeing the Blue and Yellow switcher at about the 6 minute mark at a grain elevator or similar industry in either Iowa or Minnesota when I first started trucking in 2017. There was an old Conrail switcher and some first gen geeps at other industries along that same back road. This one stuck out because it used to be owned(I think it was just a parts unit at that point) by a Chicago area shortline/locomotive leasing outfit. It just sat stored on this industry lead near O'Hare airport for years before UP kicked them off that line, then it and another switcher sat near Rochelle for a while. It made the rounds around the midwest before ending up in Ohio for a rebuild and new coat of paint. It was still in faded Amtrak colors beforehand with ATSF paint shining through. It was one of the many rebuilt "SSB1200s" that ATSF traded to Amtrak for the SDP40s(or whatever models they were) Glad to see her kicking around, as I was sure she would end up on the deadline at NRE or LTEX
I've actually been researching this locomotive for my new switcher special series. From my research, I've gathered that it was built for ATSF in '53, renumbered a few times, rebuilt to SSB1200 specs, then sold to AmTrak (during their trade of '84 with the SDP40's), and renumbered to 554. After that, it gets a bit confusing. Sometime in the mid 2000's, it was owned by DRSX, then later TANX. During this time, it stuck around IL for a while. When it was TANX 1253, it was in Rochelle sitting next to another switcher, which matches what you've said. I think it was acquired by MVPX in 2013, where it was repainted in Cleveland.
It has been sitting in Brewster, MN since at least 2019. For some reason, in their repainting, they labeled it as a regular SW9. Some sources suggest that it has been downgraded or modified to maybe a more stock configuration, but I'm unsure. This may have been the rebuilding in Ohio that you speak of. If you have any more information, please let me know, and I do appreciate this and any more you send my way.
@@brookingsrail I honestly think the SSB1200 desgination was little more than your standard 70s-80s EMD rebuild. It seems the least intrusive off all of the similar switcher rebuilds of that time, (UP's SW10 and IC's SW14). I think they just redisignated it as an SW9 to make it easier to sell. I guess SSB1200 is an unofficial designation. The company that rebuilt it had a bunch of pictures of it at that roundhouse in Cleveland being rebuilt and repainted. If you search on facebook, the photos should pop up. At this point any 12 cylinder 567 powered switcher is mechanically about the same. They are probably upgraded to 567BC or and have 645 power assemblies. I think it really just boils down to how good the chassis and draft gear is at this point.
But yeah TANX 1253 first came onto my radar around 2007. DRSX (Dot Rail Services of Granville, Il) was the parent company to the Central Illinois Railway Company. They had a contract switching company and a track repair company as well. I don't think the 1210 and 1211 were around for very long before being sold off. They used an ex IC SW14 to switch Centex Industrial Park in Elk Grove Village, but stored those two switchers there. I think they were both sold off right after they got kicked out of Elk Grove in favor of Chicago Terminal Railroad.(UP has since kicked them out as well in favor of The Chicago Junction Railroad)
About that time the next year(2008) The blue SW1200 that it was coupled to at Elk Grove and Rochelle showed up at NRE Dixmoor and was repainted there.
Have you seen a green and yellow one?
If so it used to be here in Oklahoma
Good narrative, but it would have been a nice visual if you included pictures of the different types of switchers.
Thank you for the video, however I must correct you a bit on the current states of both RS1325's. They were initially built for the CNW to use in their Chicago yards for switching and passenger service, but the CNW weren't intersted. It wasn't until the C&IM purchased both prototypes, 30 and 31, off the showroom floor. They'd both serve the C&IM, and current G&W IMRR until 2016 when 30 went to the ATW, another G&W subsidiary. 31 remained with the IMRR until retired and sold for scrap in 2020 when the Monticello Railway Museum purchased the locomotive, which is still operating at the museum today. 30 was just recently donated as of 2022 by the ATW to the Illinois Railway Museum.
Hope this info helps. Keep up the good work
A lot of Tugboats are powerd by EMD diesels 567 and 645s
The 567 and 645 are the exact same size. I can say this with authority as I am an EMD certified locomotive mechanic for a short line railroad in Texas. I have been doing locomotive work for seventeen years. The 710 engine is in fact larger than the 567 or the 645.
The 645 power assemblies will fit into a 567c block.
Variants of the A, B, and C blocks are, A, AB,AC, CA, B, BC, C.
I personally haven’t seen such variations in the D or E blocks. D and E block units usually have a number after the letter.
Auxiliary systems often account for variations in car the car body or frame design. Systems such as inertial filters, Far air filter systems often are the cause for car body oddities.
The SW of Union Pacific fame is a very good variant rebuilt from early SW units using C blocks, D32 main generator, AC auxiliary generator, D14 companion alternator, GP style radiators and fans, as well as the -1 excitation system. To accommodate the D14, without cutting the castings in the welded frame, they welded I beams to the frame to make new mounts for the engine and main generator assembly. The bulk of the car body is about nine inches taller from having skirts added at the base. The raised radiator section with electric cooling fans are obvious spotting features.
Of the 1200 horsepower units the 10s are my favorite as they are practically bomb proof.
Their only fault is being set up in permanent series parallel on the traction motors. The ones I have worked on got reconfigured to full series. This allows a better low speed grunt pulling advantage. They do okay as UP built them but for industrial work the modification becomes a lifesaver.
Missing: Lehigh Valley SW8 no's 256-273. These were the only SW's ever built with dynamic brakes straight from the factory. They were known as the "Delano Pups".
I don’t have sound
Thank You .... This video was an interesting clarification on Switchers; an important Loco then and now. A constructive suggestion : Drop the ( over-powering ) background music or significantly reduce the volume ( The tunes themselves are apt ). Regards + Cheers For Now / Johnny
Totally agree about the music or like you said make the background music needs tombe turned right down.
I seem to remember the CNR having sw1800s. I have pics of them from the late 1970s.
I've rewired and upgraded so many switchers. I like the MP15AC with freaking AR10 in it.
the gp15-1 is basicly the mp15, with a nose.
Why is more horsepower needed if the engine doesn't run off the diesel engines directly but run off electricity to turn the wheels?
More horsepower can turn a larger generator which will in turn send more electric power to larger or more powerful traction motors.
great video but a small correction. the SW900 had an 8 cyl. engine producing 900 HP, not 9 cyl.
Interesting but the video seems to be from another video
I actually caught one of these at a crossing
I thought these live 30 years and 14 years is short
8202 I ran that engine yrs ago when serm was in there old location.
What about the SW1200rs?
Interesting that the last bit had a Rebuilt GP35 as a slug and a GP38-2.
West Virginia Northern #52 had a Dynamic Brake
Thank you.
YOU FORGOT ROAD SWITCHERS!! EMD GP7 GP8 GP9 GP10 GP11 GP16 SD7 SD9 SD 10 SD 20
I suppose I should have put EMD Yard Switcher in the title, but I will do a video about the Road Switchers sometime in the future.
Dump the music!
yeh, it ruined the presentation.
The music's fine...
Wait there was music? > Good video.
Too bad about the distracting background music. makes it too hard to try to follow the discussion. Bye.
Nicely done, EXCEPT for the music! PLEASE shut it off so we can concentrate on what you're saying!
I hope I'm not the only one who thinks EMD's old horsepower coding scheme was stupid (e.g., "S" for "six hundred", "N" for "nine hundred"). This creates ambiguities; for example, "S" could just as well have meant "seven hundred". And just as bad, you can't compare two horsepowers just by their relative position in the alphabet. Ugh.
EMD "B" block= absolute water leaking junk!
B had cousin called A block, they both leaked. Gave birth to 567AC and 567BC with mid deck changed to 567C. Round hand hole with square on bottom. Good video, thank you
nice music
naw, goofy music.
Geeeeeeeeez, you're kidding me, right?? Polka music...either you're polish in ethnicity or grew up in that region of the country. Lol
I'm just kidding...I actually enjoy some polka...wonder what that says about me?!
Most of the video is completely unrelated to the topic
Very informative video except for the annoying music!!! What in the world makes you think people want to hear that!!! It takes away from the video. I turned it off only after watching it for a few minutes because I could not concentrate on what you were saying! Please, don’t ruin another video by adding that worthless music!!!!
That music sucks !😂😂
@ 1:20 you got the SC and the SW1 reversed the Rock Island unit is a SC and the Jersey Central unit is a SW1
What about the SW1400?