EMD SW1200


An EMD SW1200 is a four-axle diesel switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1954 and May 1966. Power is provided by an EMD 567C 12-cylinder engine, which generates. 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 U.S. railroads, 287 were built for Canadian railroads, four were built for Brazilian railroads, 25 were built for a Chilean industrial firm, and three were built for the Panama Canal Railway.

Design and production

The SW1200 was the third model of 1,200 hp SW series switchers built by EMD. It was a successor to the SW7 and SW9. Compared to its direct predecessor, the SW9, the SW1200 differed in that it used the improved and more reliable 567C engine, compared to the SW9's 567B engine. Late SW1200s built in 1966 were instead built with the 567E 12-cylinder engine. Most of the locomotive's external features were unchanged from the SW9, making distinguishing between the two models difficult. The new "1200" model number was a reflection of EMD's change to a more horsepower-based model naming system at the time.
SW1200 production began in January 1954, immediately after SW9 production came to an end the previous month. Production continued for 12 years until the last SW1200 left EMD's manufacturing facility in May 1966.
Like many EMD products, customers could customize their SW1200 orders. Several options were available, including Flexicoil trucks. A few units were built with dynamic brakes, featuring a large square box with a fan on top of the hood, right in front of the cab.

Variants

A cow–calf variation, the TR12, was cataloged, but none were built.
An SW1200RS is a variation of the standard SW1200 that features large front and rear number board housings, EMD Flexicoil B-B trucks, and larger fuel tanks for road switcher service. The majority of the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific SW1200 fleets were purchased as SW1200RS units. SW1200RS units were produced near the end of SW1200 production in the mid-1960s.

Original buyers

Units built by Electro-Motive Division, United States

RailroadQuantityRoad numbersNotes
Aliquippa and Southern Railroad131201–1213
Amapa Railway41–4Brazil
Ashley, Drew and Northern Railway2176, 178
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway32439–2441
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad89614–9621
Bauxite and Northern Railway111
Bellefonte Central Railroad15624
Belt Railway of Chicago3524–526
Birmingham Southern Railroad2200–201
Chicago and Illinois Midland Railroad618–23
Chicago and North Western Railway12310–321Acquired by EJ&E Railway then to Gary Railway
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad229271–9292to Burlington Northern 229–250
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad 481637–1642, 2020–2061Renumbered 600–619, 625–652
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad17920–936
Chile Exploration Company25911–935Chile
Colorado and Southern Railway5156–160to Burlington Northern Same
Commonwealth Edison116
Conemaugh and Black Lick Railroad2120–121
Coos Bay Lumber Company31201–1203Built with dynamic brakes.
Cuyahoga Valley Railway71280–1286
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad8561–568to Erie Lackawanna 456–463
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad10130–139133 preserved
De Queen and Eastern Railroad1D-5
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway8300–307300–301, 303–305 and 307 are now part of the Gary Railway Co. fleet per the 2009 CN acquisition of EJ&E Railway. 306 to LTEX 306
Florida East Coast Railway7229–235
Fort Worth and Denver Railway4607–610to Burlington Northern Same
Grand Trunk Western Railroad181269–1270, 1505–1508, 1511–1519, 7017–7019
Great Lakes Steel Corporation1616, 39–53
Great Northern Railway629–33, 100100 Rebuilt from EMC NC to Burlington Northern 162–166
Houston Belt and Terminal Railway533–37
Illinois Terminal Railroad12775–786
Inland Steel Company2388–98, 103–114
Kansas City Terminal Railway1070–79
Lake Superior Terminal and Transfer1105
Louisville and Nashville Railroad42297–2300
Midland Electric Coal Company11201
Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway630–35to Soo Line
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad, 8321–328321, 323 and 324 were acquired by EJ&E Ry then part of Gary Ry Co. One unit acquired by Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway, now in active service as its Number 108.
Soo Line 82120–2127
Missouri Pacific Railroad1161100–1166, 1175–1201, 1255–1259, 1263–1279Withdrawn in 1985 after the UP takeover. Sold to various owners or scrapped.
Missouri Pacific 201280–1299Withdrawn in 1985 after the UP takeover. Sold to various owners or scrapped.
Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad81–6, 43–44
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad20640–659to Penn Central 9180–9199 and then Conrail 9363–9382
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad271–72
Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad15101–115
Northern Pacific Railway59119–177to Burlington Northern 170–228
Oliver Iron Mining Company9940–948
Pacific Power and Light110
Panama Canal Railway3661–663
Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad10125–134
Pennsylvania Railroad357900–7934To Penn Central
Peoria and Pekin Union Railway1500
Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad539–43
Reading Company52715–2719Equipped with 930 Gal. Fuel tanks
Republic Steel Corporation2362, 895
Reserve Mining Company11212
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad581–85
River Terminal Railway263–64
Rockdale, Sandow and Southern Railroad28–9
Sandersville Railroad1200renumbered 1200, upgraded to 12–645 spec
Simpson Logging Company21200–1201Built with Dynamic Brakes.
Southern Pacific Transportation Company271597–1623renumbered 2262–2288
Southern Pacific 12113–118, 123–128renumbered 2213–2223
St. Louis Southwestern Railway 171062–1073, 2289–22931062–1073 renumbered to 2250–2261
Steelton and Highspire Railroad144
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis251219–1243
Tooele Valley Railway1100
U.S. Steel2SX1–SX2
Wabash Railroad5375–379
West Virginia Northern Railroad152Built with dynamic brakes.
Weyerhaeuser Timber Company1304
Wheeling Steel71250, 1254–1259
Woodward Iron Company152
Total765

Units built by General Motors Diesel, Canada

RailroadQuantityRoad numbersNotes
Canadian Forest Products3301–303Flexicoil trucks, built with dynamic brakes
Canadian National Railway2081227–1268, 1271–1397, 1575–1597, 7020–703512/13/1500s have Flexicoil trucks and numberboards at both ends. Some units rebuilt to SW1200RMs
Canadian Pacific Railway728100–8171Flexicoil trucks, numberboards at front only
Dominion Foundries and Steel 114
Essex Terminal Railway1105
Quebec Iron and Titanium15Romaine River Ry
Roberval and Saguenay Railway123
Total287