EMD SW1001


The EMD SW1001 is a diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between September 1968 and June 1986. A total of 230 were constructed, mainly for North American railroads and industrial operations.
The SW1001 was developed because EMD's SW1000 model had proved unpopular among industrial railroad customers, as the heights of its walkway and cab eaves were much greater than those of earlier EMD switcher models. The overall height was similar, but the SW1000's roof was much flatter in curvature. Industrial railroads that only operated switchers often had facilities designed to the proportions of EMD's earlier switchers.
The SW1001, in essence, placed the hood and powertrain of the SW1000 with the underframe and cab of the earlier SW1200. The EMD 645-series diesel engine had a deeper crankcase and oil pan than the SW1200's EMD 567-series engine. The engine had to be mounted on risers for sufficient clearance, raising the whole hood about above the walkway compared to the SW1000, and requiring a spacer under the hood. The cab was similar to that of the SW1200, but not identical; it is longer, and has a different window arrangement. The SW1001 uses the same pilot plates as the SW1000; given the lower frame height, these protrude above the walkway deck height, giving the most obvious SW1001 spotting feature.

Export models

The SW1001 locomotive type was used in a number of countries outside the USA: in the Americas four units were bought by Canadian businesses; two by Saskatchewan Power and two by the National Harbours Board. 18 by companies in Mexico: 12 by AHMSA, 3 by Lazaro Cardenas Steel, and 3 by Pemex.
In Africa five were supplied to the Boke project in Guinea in the early 1970s and 18 were acquired by the railways of Morocco in 1982 as type DI 500. In Asia the Korean National Railway acquired 28 between 1969 and 1971.
One was acquired in 1980 by Foster Yeoman, and another by Hanson Aggregates in 2000 both for use on quarry industrial sites in the England. They are based at Whatley Quarry and Merehead Quarry, both part of Mendip Rail operations.
Five were bought for the government railways of Saudi Arabia in 1981.
Additionally 60 variants with a redesigned cab were built under license as the Renfe Class 310 for the railways of Spain between 1989 and 1991.

EMD

RailroadQuantityRoad numbersDate Built
Alabama By-Products Corporation110008/1971
Aliquippa & Southern31000-10022/1973-3/1975
American Steel Foundries29G9-9G106/1979-7/1979
Amoco Oil1SE312/1978
Armco Steel24E150-E169, 1-18-38-1-18-40, 121510/1974-6/1982
Birmingham Southern818-19, 220-2255/1973-10/1974
Champion International1060567/1979
Chicago Short Line228-299/1974
Coors Brewing1C99812/1980
Corinth & Counce Railroad31003-100510/1974-5/1981
Cuyahoga Valley110512/1973
Detroit Edison12179/1968
Dow Chemical51001-1003, 1008-100912/1980-4/1981
East Cooper & Berkeley22001-200212/1977
Electro-Motive (Demonstrator)111712/1979
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway2444-4458/1971
Ford Motor Company1010014-1002310/1968-12/1975
Galveston Wharves5301-30510/1975-7/1980
General Motors, Central Foundry Division119718/1971
General Motors, Chevrolet Motor Division1965/1972
Indianapolis Power & Light1No Number3/1982
Inland Steel2126-1273/1976
Interlake Steel217-1810/1974-11/1974
Intermountain Power114/1985
Lake Terminal Railroad1102110/1968
Long Island Railroad8100-1073/1977
Monongahela Connecting Railroad6420-4252/1970-3/1976
New Haven Trap Rock173577/1976
Newburgh & South Shore51018-10222/1970-4/1975
Northwestern Steel & Wire32-45/1981
Olin Chemical116/1982
Public Service Company Of Colorado115-111/1973
Reading Company152601-261511/1973-12/1973
River Terminal Railway8101-1089/1968-12/1978
St Joseph Minerals Company110048/1974
Savannah State Docks21001-10024/1978
South Carolina Public Railways110014-1975
Texas Company1241/1976
U.S. Steel, Gary Works388-903/1970-1/1971
Union Railroad3101-1033/1976

Export

RailroadQuantityRoad numbersDate Built
Altos Hornos (Mexico)9142, 151-156, 164-1658/1974-12/1980
Boke Project (Guinea)5201-2053/1972-10/1974
Foster Yeoman (Great Britain)14412/1980
Korean National Railroad (Korea)282101-21283/1969-1/1971
Lazaro Cardenas Steel (Mexico)1No Number1/1976
Mexican Petroleum (Mexico)35, 24-258/1980-6/1986, Units 24-25 were built in 8/1980, Unit No. 5 was built in 6/1986.
Moroccan Railways (Morocco)18DI501-DI51810/1982-9/1984
Saudi Government Railway (Saudi Arabia)51022-102611/1981