EMD SW9
Model of 1200 hp North American diesel switcher
title: "EMD SW9" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["electro-motive-division-locomotives", "general-motors-diesel-locomotives", "b-b-locomotives", "railway-locomotives-introduced-in-1950", "diesel–electric-locomotives-of-the-united-states", "locomotives-with-cabless-variants", "standard-gauge-locomotives-of-the-united-states", "standard-gauge-locomotives-of-canada", "diesel–electric-locomotives-of-canada", "shunting-locomotives", "atchison,-topeka-and-santa-fe-railway-locomotives", "baltimore-and-ohio-locomotives", "chesapeake-and-ohio-locomotives", "chicago,-burlington-and-quincy-locomotives", "chicago-and-north-western-railway-locomotives", "delaware,-lackawanna-and-western-locomotives", "erie-railroad-locomotives", "great-northern-railway-(united-states)-locomotives", "illinois-central-locomotives", "maine-central-railroad-locomotives", "milwaukee-road-locomotives", "new-york-central-railroad-locomotives", "nickel-plate-road-locomotives", "northern-pacific-railway-locomotives", "pennsylvania-railroad-locomotives", "soo-line-locomotives", "southern-pacific-railroad-locomotives", "spokane,-portland-and-seattle-railway-locomotives", "st.-louis–san-francisco-railway-locomotives", "union-pacific-railroad-locomotives", "western-pacific-railroad-locomotives"] description: "Model of 1200 hp North American diesel switcher" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_SW9" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Model of 1200 hp North American diesel switcher ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox Locomotive"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | EMD SW9 |
| powertype | Diesel–electric |
| image | ciry.jpg |
| caption | CIRY 1206, an SW9 built in 1951 on October 31, 2008 |
| builder | General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) |
| General Motors Diesel (GMD, Canada) | |
| builddate | November 1950 – December 1953 |
| buildmodel | SW9, TR5 |
| aarwheels | B-B |
| uicclass | Bo′Bo′ |
| gauge | |
| primemover | EMD 12-567B |
| cylindercount | 12 |
| enginetype | V12 Two-stroke diesel |
| aspiration | Roots-type blower |
| poweroutput | 1200 hp |
| totalproduction | EMD SW9: 786 |
| GMD SW9: 29 | |
| EMD TR5A: 10 | |
| EMD TR5B: 12 | |
| locale | North America |
| :: |
|name=EMD SW9 |powertype=Diesel–electric |image=ciry.jpg |caption= CIRY 1206, an SW9 built in 1951 on October 31, 2008 |builder=General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) General Motors Diesel (GMD, Canada) |builddate=November 1950 – December 1953 |buildmodel=SW9, TR5 |aarwheels=B-B |uicclass=Bo′Bo′ |gauge= |primemover=EMD 12-567B |cylindercount=12 |enginetype=V12 Two-stroke diesel |aspiration=Roots-type blower |poweroutput=1200 hp |totalproduction=EMD SW9: 786 GMD SW9: 29 EMD TR5A: 10 EMD TR5B: 12 |locale=North America ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/IC1496.jpg" caption="EMD]] in May 1952 as IC SW9 #9469 then renumbered 469. Then it was later converted into an [[EMD SW14]]."] ::
The EMD SW9 is a model of diesel switcher locomotives built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between November 1950 and December 1953. Additional SW9s were built by General Motors Diesel in London Ontario Canada from December 1950 to March 1953. Power was provided by an EMD 567B 12-cylinder engine, producing 1200 hp.
786 examples of this model were built for American railroads and 29 were built for Canadian railroads.
Design and production
The SW9 was EMD's successor to the SW7. Like the SW7, the SW9 retained a power output of 1,200 hp and the same general design. It differed in lacking the upper hood vents found on the SW7, and with the installation of a 567B engine to replace the 567A found in the SW7.
Starting in October 1953 a number of SW9s were built with the 567BC engine. In December 1953, one locomotive, Weyerhaeuser 305, was built with a 567C engine. The 567C was subsequently installed on the SW9's successor, the SW1200.
In addition to the single units produced, ten TR5 cow–calf paired sets were produced (eight for the Union Pacific Railroad, and two for the Union Railroad of Pittsburgh). The Union Railroad also bought an additional two TR5B "calves".
Original buyers
SW9 locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA
::data[format=table]
SW9 locomotives built by General Motors Diesel, Canada
::data[format=table]
| Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers | Notes | Total | 29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canadian National Railways | 10 | 7000–7009 | |||
| Canadian Pacific Railway | 6 | 7400–7405 | |||
| Chesapeake and Ohio Railway | 5 | 5240–5244 | |||
| Great Northern Railway | 3 | 14–16 | to Burlington Northern 146-148 | ||
| Steel Company of Canada | 1 | 70 | |||
| Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway | 4 | 55–58 | |||
| :: |
TR5 locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA
::data[format=table]
| Railroad | Quantity A units | Quantity B units | Road numbers A units | Road numbers B units | Notes | Total | 10 | 12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Pacific Railroad | 8 | 8 | 1870A–1877A | 1870B–1877B | Dynamic brakes were added to TR5As by UP shortly after delivery | |||
| Union Railroad | 2 | 4 | 701–702 | 701C–704C | ||||
| :: |
SW1000R
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Amtrak_EMD_SW1000R_796.jpg" caption="P&LE]] #8959, idles in Washington, D.C. in 2008."] ::
In 1994 Amtrak acquired nine SW9s from various railroads and had them rebuilt by the National Railway Equipment Company. These switchers were reclassified as EMD SW1000R.
References
References
- Marre, Louis A.. (1995). "Diesel locomotives : the first 50 years : a guide to diesels built before 1972". Kalmbach Pub. Co.
- (1996). "A field guide to trains of North America". Houghton Mifflin.
- (September 2, 2012). "Amtrak Locomotive and Car Notes".
::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. ::