Lehigh Valley EMC Model SW No. 107.
(EMC, W. Lenheim Collection)
EMC S SERIES 600 HP DIESEL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES
Early Electro-Motive Corporation switcher locomotives were built with Winton 201-A engines. A total of 175 were built between February 1935 and January 1939. Two main series of locomotives were built, distinguished by engine size and output: the straight-8, 600 hp (450 kW) 'S' series, and the V12, 900 hp (670 kW) 'N' series. Both were offered with either one-piece cast underframes from General Steel Castings of Granite City, Illinois, denoted by 'C' after the power identifier, and fabricated, welded underframes built by EMC themselves, denoted by 'W'. This gave four model series: SC, SW, NC and NW. Further developments of the 900 hp (670 kW) models gave model numbers NC1, NC2, NW1, and NW1A, all of which were practically indistinguishable externally from the others, as well as a pair of unique NW4 models for the Missouri Pacific Railroad and a solitary, twin-engine T transfer locomotive model built for the Illinois Central Railroad.
600 hp (450 kW) S series
The production S series locomotives are identical except for cast or welded underframes, which are identical to those used under the N-series 900 hp (670 kW) locomotives. The hood on the S series is shorter, and the locomotives have a characteristic, rounded-edged "satchel" in front of the radiator. The straight-8 600 hp (450 kW) Winton 201-A engine moved the exhaust stacks off-center to the engineer's left, while the N series' were central. The Winton-engined switchers can be distinguished from later EMD 567-engined units by small louvres at the top front sides of their hoods, as well as top-of-hood ventilation through several lifting vents rather than the large top grille of those later units.
The 600 hp (450 kW) series was much more successful than the 900 hp (670 kW) during this early period; 114 were sold.
Allentown and Auburn EMC SW No. 206 arrives at their Picnic Grove on a drizzly October afternoon.
(Ns8104, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
Pre-SC
Two pre-production units were built in February 1935; they differed from full production units by having a hood that did not taper in toward the cab, and six rather than three small louvres on each top front hood side. They were delivered to the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad as Nos. 425 and 426. Both were re-engined with EMD 567 engines in 1962. One, 426, was purchased by the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad and is on display at Steamtown National Historic Site in Lackawanna colors.
ATSF EMC SC 2151 at unknown location on May 22, 1938. Photographer: Harris.
(Craig Garver, Public domain, https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalrailartist/50265241913/in/dateposted/)
SC
43 cast-frame SC units were built between May 1936 and January 1939. They were delivered to a wide assortment of railroads:
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway: 4 locomotives, Nos. 2301, 2151–2153
Inland Steel: 3 locomotives, Nos. 40, 42 & 44
New York Central Railroad: 7 locomotives, Nos. 567-573 (CR&I)
Boston and Maine Railroad: 6 locomotives, Nos. 1103-1108
Chicago Great Western Railway: 3 locomotives, Nos. 5-7
South Buffalo Railway: 2 locomotives, Nos. 50 and 51
River Terminal Railway: 1 locomotive, No. 50
Electro-Motive Corporation: 1 locomotive, No. 620 to Canton No. 20
Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad: 2 locomotives, Nos. 204 and 205
Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad: 3 locomotives, Nos. 51-53
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway: 1 locomotive, No. D438
Missouri Pacific Railroad: 4 locomotives, Nos. 9000-9003
Grand Trunk Western Railroad: 2 locomotives, Nos. 7800-7801
Central Railroad of New Jersey: 4 locomotives, Nos. 1005-1008
One SC locomotive still survives: Missouri Pacific No. 9001 (as Dardanelle & Russellville 14, a later owner) at the Illinois Railway Museum. It is not operational.
ATSF EMC SC 2153 at Topeka, Kanasas, June 22, 1940. Photographer unknown.
The box on top of the hood is a water tank and steam generator for passenger car switching.
(Craig Garver, Public domain, https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalrailartist/50265244858/in/dateposted/)
SW
76 fabricated welded-frame SW units were built between December 1936 and January 1939. Original owners included:
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway: 9 locomotives, Nos. 200-208
Reading Company: 6 locomotives, Nos. 10-15
River Terminal Railway: 1 locomotive, No. 51
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad: 2 locomotives, Nos. 100-101
Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad: 1 locomotive, No. 206
Chicago and North Western: 1 locomotive No. 1201
Inland Steel: 3 locomotives, Nos. 43, 45-46
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad: 29 locomotives, Nos. 500-528
Great Lakes Steel: 2 locomotives, No. 6 and No. 7
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad: 6 locomotives, Nos. 9130-9135
Buffalo Creek Railroad: 2 locomotives, Nos. 40-41
Pennsylvania Railroad: 1 locomotive, No. 3908
Steelton and Highspire Railroad: 1 locomotive, No. 32
Lehigh Valley Railroad: 6 locomotives, Nos. 106-111
Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad: 2 locomotives, Nos. 61-62
Missouri Pacific Railroad: 1 locomotive, No. 5 (UTSJ)
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway: 1 locomotive, No. D838
Union Terminal Railway: 1 locomotive, No. 10 (UTSJ)
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad: 1 locomotive No. 2 (B&OCT)
Two SW locomotives survive, but neither retains the original Winton engine. PB&NE 206 was reengined with a 567CR block (R for counter-clockwise revolution) in 1955. The locomotive operated on both the Maryland & Pennsylvania Railroad (as No. 83) and Stewartstown Railroad (as No. 11). Since 2014, it has operated under its original No. 206 on the Allentown & Auburn Railroad in Kutztown, PA. While it now has an EMD 567C block, it retains its EMC electrical system and early lifting hood vents.
Missouri Pacific No. 5 survives and operates as Thermal Belt Railway No. 1, repowered with a 600 hp (450 kW) Cummins diesel.
Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad No. 426, an EMC Pre-SC at Steamtown, Scranton, PA.
(Peter Van den Bossche, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
