All EMD Yard Switcher Models Explained (SW/SC/NW/NC/MP/T/TR) 

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.

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.

THANK YOU FOR CLEARING THAT UP I WAS CONFUSED

Good overall info on classic EMD switchers. Thanks!

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.

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.

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

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.

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 enjoyed this. I don't know which models specifically, but saw a lot of these various models up where I lived in Montana.

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

I saw CRR NW3 in the scrap line,,Erwin,Tn. It was next to the last CRR F7A that went to scrap. 1978.

great video but a small correction. the SW900 had an 8 cyl. engine producing 900 HP, not 9 cyl.

I've rewired and upgraded so many switchers. I like the MP15AC with freaking AR10 in it.

I've loved "The Entertainer" since I was a kid, about the time I had an HO scale Santa Fe switcher.

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".

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

I actually caught one of these at a crossing

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

Good narrative, but it would have been a nice visual if you included pictures of the different types of switchers.

I seem to remember the CNR having sw1800s. I have pics of them from the late 1970s.

I thought these live 30 years and 14 years is short

What about the SW1200rs?

Thank you.

Interesting that the last bit had a Rebuilt GP35 as a slug and a GP38-2.

What about the SW1400?

8202 I ran that engine yrs ago when serm was in there old location.

Dump the music!

A lot of Tugboats are powerd by EMD diesels 567 and 645s

Interesting but the video seems to be from another video

I don’t have sound

The music's fine...

Wait there was music? > Good video.

Nicely done, EXCEPT for the music! PLEASE shut it off so we can concentrate on what you're saying!

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?

EMD "B" block= absolute water leaking junk!

YOU FORGOT ROAD SWITCHERS!! EMD GP7 GP8 GP9 GP10 GP11 GP16 SD7 SD9 SD 10 SD 20

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?!

nice music

Too bad about the distracting background music. makes it too hard to try to follow the discussion. Bye.

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.

@ 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