EMD SD18

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title: "EMD SD18" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["electro-motive-division-locomotives", "c-c-locomotives", "diesel–electric-locomotives-of-the-united-states", "railway-locomotives-introduced-in-1960", "freight-locomotives", "standard-gauge-locomotives-of-the-united-states", "standard-gauge-locomotives-of-south-korea", "diesel–electric-locomotives-of-south-korea", "chesapeake-and-ohio-locomotives"] description: "Model of 1800 hp Co′Co′ American diesel locomotives" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_SD18" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Model of 1800 hp Co′Co′ American diesel locomotives ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox locomotive"]

Field	Value
name	EMD SD18
powertype	Diesel-electric
image	CIM 60, 50, and 52 (SD9s) at engine house, Springfield, IL on May 7. 1966 (22254571698).jpg
caption	Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway 60 coupled to two SD9 locomotives at Springfield, Illinois, 7 May 1966
aarwheels	C-C
builder	General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
buildmodel	SD18
builddate	April 1960 – March 1963
primemover	EMD 567
enginetype	V16 diesel
cylindercount	16
poweroutput	1,800 hp
totalproduction	114
gauge
, Brazil
::

| name = EMD SD18 | powertype = Diesel-electric | image = CIM 60, 50, and 52 (SD9s) at engine house, Springfield, IL on May 7. 1966 (22254571698).jpg | caption = Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway 60 coupled to two SD9 locomotives at Springfield, Illinois, 7 May 1966 | aarwheels = C-C | builder = General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) | buildmodel = SD18 | builddate = April 1960 – March 1963 | primemover = EMD 567 | enginetype = V16 diesel | cylindercount = 16 | poweroutput = 1,800 hp | totalproduction = 114 | gauge = , Brazil The EMD SD18 is a 6-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between April 1960 and March 1963. Power was provided by an EMD 567D1 16-cylinder engine which generated 1,800 hp.

54 examples of this locomotive model were built for American railroads, and 60 for export, including fifteen for Korail (order numbers 700735–700749, serial numbers 28373–28387).

Design and Production

The SD18 was the third model in EMD's SD (special duty) line of locomotives. It was designed as a modified GP18 which had six axles instead of four. The additional axles allowed for more tractive effort and a more even distribution of weight compared to the GP18.

Original Owners

::data[format=table]

Photograph	Owner	Quantity	Numbers	Totals	114
	Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad	7	851–857
	Chesapeake and Ohio Railway	19	1800–1818
[[File:CIM 60, 50, and 52 (SD9s) at engine house, Springfield, IL on May 7. 1966 01 (22416282166).jpg	150x150px]]	Chicago and Illinois Midland Railway	2	60–61
[[File:DMIR 193.JPG	150x150px]]	Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway	19	175–193
	Reserve Mining Co.	7	1226–1232
	RFFSA (export to Brazil)	45	3401–3445
	Korea National Railroad	15	6001–6015
::

Preservation

At least three SD18s have been preserved.

Chop-nosed Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range 193 is now an operating member of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum collection. They also previously had DM&IR 316 in their collection, which is an "SDM"; an EMD SD18 given EMD 645 power assemblies by the Missabe, though still labeled as an SD18. In 2019 #316 was traded for Northern Pacific #245 and left the museum for the Dakota Quality Grain Corporation in Parshall, N.D.

As of March 2022, grain terminal operator AgRail LLC of Bloomington, Illinois has acquired Western Rail Inc. SD18M No. 1229 through a lease-to-purchase agreement. The unit began service with Minnesota's Reserve Mining in May 1961 and was last used by the Western Milling plant in Goshen, CA. It was rewired in the 1980s.

References

References

1. Marre, Louis A.. (1995). "Diesel locomotives : the first 50 years : a guide to diesels built before 1972". Kalmbach Pub. Co.
2. "Diesel Locomotives".
3. Smedley, Steve. (March 15, 2022). "Illinois grain facility acquires rare SD18M".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::