Power type Diesel-electric Total produced 1,056 | Model SW1200 | |
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Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division,
General Motors Diesel, Canada Build date January 1954 – May 1966 Gauge 4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ⁄8 in) metre gauge, Chile
5 ft (1,524 mm)(?), Panama
4 ft 8 ⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge, Brazil | ||
An EMD SW1200 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and May 1966. Power was provided by an EMD 567C 12-cylinder engine which generated 1,200 hp (895 kW). Late SW1200s built in 1966 were built with the 567E 12-cylinder engine. Additional SW1200 production was completed by General Motors Diesel in Ontario Canada between September 1955 and June 1964.
737 examples of this locomotive model were built for American railroads, 287 were built for Canadian railroads 4 were built for Brazilian Railroads, 25 were built for a Chilean Industrial firm, and 3 were built for the Panama Canal Railway.
A cow-calf variation, the TR12, was cataloged, but none were built.
A few units were built with dynamic brakes, featuring large square box with a fan on top of the hood, right in front of the cab.
An SW1200RS is a variation of the standard SW1200 that featured large front and rear (on some units) numberboard housings, EMD Flexicoil B-B trucks, and larger fuel tanks for roadswitcher service. The majority of the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific SW1200 fleets were purchased as SW1200RS units.
Surviving and preserved units
Grand Trunk Western 1512 is now owned by COE and is currently sitting on a siding in Detroit, Michigan.
Lake Superior Terminal and Transfer Railway 105 is operated by the Minnesota Transportation Museum as Northern Pacific Railway 105.
Fremont and Elkhorn Valley Railroad 1219 built in March 1962 for Chicago & North Western is utilized for their excursion trains as well as the Fremont Dinner Train and currently pulls 1920s era passenger cars for their non-profit excursion operations & the for-profit dinner train cars.
HudBay Minerals 1274 built for Canadian National Railway and HudBay Minerals 8153 built for Canadian Pacific Railway are operating as industrial yard locomotives at HudBay Minerals Flin Flon.
Coos Bay Lumber Company 1203 is now being operated by Coos Bay Rail Link as a road switcher and can be seen anywhere from Eugene, OR, to Coos Bay, OR, wearing road number 1203.
Crab Orchard & Egyptian 1136 and 1161 are both still in operation as short line freight haulers on the CO&E lines based in Herrin, Illinois and Marion, Illinois respectively.
Resolute Forest Products used 1305 at its now closed mill in Iroquois Falls, Ontario, Canada. It was rebuilt by Diesel Electric Services in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, in August and September 2012.
Quincy Railroad (California), owned by Sierra Pacific Industries at their mill in Quincy, California, has QRR SW1200 No. 5, builder No. 28344, built June 1963. Lineage is; ex-Amador Central No. 11, former Ashley Drew & Northern No. 1208, née-ADN No. 178
Former B&O 9614 was acquired many years ago by the Potomac Electric Power Company for use at its power generating station in Alexandria, Virginia, which later became the property of Mirant, then GenOn Energy. Over the years the surrounding area changed from industrial use to residential and, after much community action, the plant closed on October 1, 2012. As of August 2013 the locomotive was still on site at the dormant plant but has since been transferred to the power generating station near Morgantown, MD.
Former Texas and New Orleans 113 is now working for Key Cooperative in Newton, Iowa at its grain facility.
Englewood Railway on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, operates four SW1200, three of which have been rebuilt with 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) Caterpillar engines, the fourth retaining its original power plant. The locomotives also have larger fuel tanks, dynamic brakes, and operate as "road" locomotives hauling lumber. Three of these locomotives were originally owned by Canadian Forest Products (units 301 to 303), and one from COOS (Englewood Unit 304).