EMD "E6" Locomotives: Data, Specs, Roster

Last revised: December 19, 2024

The E6 was the last in the series the builder produced before becoming an official division of General Motors. Interestingly, it began production a year before the E5 and went on to being the most successful E-series design the Electro-Motive Corporation ever built.

Internally and externally the E6 varied little from the E5 with dual headlights and the classic slant nose. More than a dozen Class I railroads purchased the E6 with more than 100 A and B units built (in total).

With the arrival of the Electro-Motive Division's E7 in 1945, General Motors oversaw a subtle but noticeable change to the model giving it more of a "bulldog" nose that had already been applied to the FT and other early F models.

Today, two E6s remain preserved; Louisville & Nashville #770 at the Kentucky Railway Museum and Chicago Rock Island & Pacific (Rock Island) #630 at the Midland Railway Historical Society. Both units remain in their original colors and number, although neither are currently operational.

Photos

Rock Island E6A #630 works suburban service at Blue Island, Illinois, circa 1974. Robert Eastwood, Jr. photo. American-Rails.com collection.

Overview

The began production in late 1939 and was the only mass produced model Electro-Motive built before its inclusion into GM. It was virtually identical to the E3, E4, and E5 in overall appearance and internal components.

The model featured two GM-built model 567 prime movers which combined could produce 2,000 horsepower. Its A1A-A1A truck setup (whereby the inside axle was unpowered) was the same as every previous model featuring four model D7 traction motors (also built by GM).

As such it could produce 56,500 pounds of starting tractive effort and 31,000 pounds continuous (just as with all earlier models up to that time).

It also offered dynamic braking and MU capability (something that was not actually that uncommon for the time period, the American Locomotive Company's PA model also offered both).

Rock Island E6A #631 is seen here between assignments around 1965. This locomotive spent many years in service. By this time it was generally used in either Chicago commuter service or occasionally led the "Peoria Rocket." American-Rails.com collection.

Reception

By the time the E6 was developed, word was getting around about the reliability of EMC's early cab diesel locomotives (for both freight and passenger service) and as such, railroads began purchasing its products.

However, what truly gave the company recognition for its passenger models was actually a freight design, its FT of 1939. It toured the country showing railroads what diesels were capable of and was highly successful at doing so.

In the case of the E6 fourteen different Class Is picked up the locomotives, for use on their most prestigious passenger trains with the Atlantic Coast Line purchasing the most.

Santa Fe E6A #15-L leads what is most likely train #12, the northbound "Chicagoan," circa 1966. American-Rails.com collection.

Other lines to purchase the E6 included the Santa Fe (which had been a buyer from the beginning with the original EA model), Baltimore & Ohio, Chicago & North Western, Rock Island, Florida East Coast, Illinois Central, Kansas City Southern, Louisville & Nashville, Milwaukee Road, Missouri Pacific, Seaboard Air Line, Southern, and the Union Pacific.

EMD's one demonstrator, #1940, was later sold to the Seaboard. It should be noted that around this time the now well known railroad liveries began to appear.

This was also thanks to the Electro-Motive Division and its styling department. In the late 1930s it was headed by Leland Knickerbocker, who with the help of Sterling McDonald created the now famous Warbonnet livery.

Knickerbocker passed away in 1940 but was replaced by John Markestein who continued the work. Without these individuals and the designs they created we would not have the now classic liveries from dozens of different railroads like the B&O, Missouri Pacific, New York Central, Southern Pacific, Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Wabash, Milwaukee Road, and on and on.

Through the 1960s this department continued to create paint schemes, most of which came about to match the grace of the streamlined equipment being developed. Many railroads simply went on to adopt these paint schemes as their own and the rest, as they say, is history.

An aging Rock Island E6A #630 awaits departure from LaSalle Street Station with a commuter run in December, 1971. Roger Puta photo.

Data Sheet and Specifications

Entered Production	1/1940 (Demonstrator #1940)
Years Produced	1/1940 - 9/1942
Engine	567 (2)
Engine Builder	GM
Horsepower	2000
RPM	800
Cylinders	12
Length	71' 1 ¼"
Height (Top Of Rail To Top Of Cab)	13' 11"
Height (Top Of Rail To Top Of Roof Horn)	14' 10"
Width	10' 7" (Outside Grab Irons)
Weight	315,000 Lbs (A Units): 290,000 Lbs (B Units)
Fuel Capacity	1,200 Gallons
Air Compressor	Gardner-Denver
Air Compressor Model	WXO
Air Brake Manufacturer	Westinghouse
Air Brake Schedule	24RL
Trucks	A1A
Truck Type	Blomberg
Truck Wheelbase	14' 1"
Wheel Size	36"
Steam Generator Manufacturer	Vapor-Clarkson
Steam Generator Capacity	1200 Lbs/Hr
Traction Motors	D7 (4), GM
Primary Generator	D4 (2), GM
Auxiliary Generator	Delco
MU (Multiple-Unit)	Yes
Dynamic Brakes	No
Gear Ratio	52:15
Tractive Effort (Starting)	56,500 Lbs at 25%
Tractive Effort (Continuous)	31,000 Lbs at 11 mph
Top Speed	116 mph

Production Roster

E6A

Total Built = 91

Owner	Road Number	Serial Number	Order Number	Completion Date	Quantity
Electro-Motive (Demonstrator)	1940*	974	E353	1/1940	1
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe	12-14	1059-1061	E301	4/1940	3
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific	627-629	1063-1065	E305	6/1940	3
Illinois Central	4000	1087	E318	10/1940	1
Baltimore & Ohio	57-59, 52	1091-1094	E322	9/1940-10/1940	4
Union Pacific	7M1A-9M1A, 7M2A-9M2A	1136-1141	E333	8/1940	6
Atlantic Coast Line	502-515	1142-1155	E335	11/1940-1/1941	14
Union Pacific/Chicago & North Western	LA4	1172	E341	2/1941	1
Union Pacific/Southern Pacific/Chicago & North Western	SF4	1175	E341	3/1941	1
Florida East Coast	1003	1196	E348	12/1940	1
Southern Railway	2800-2802, 2900-2901	1214-1218	E356	3/1941-4/1941	5
Southern Railway	2902-2903	1224-1225	E362	4/1941-5/1941	2
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe	15	1242	E369	5/1941	3
Baltimore & Ohio	60-63	1328-1331	E388	6/1941-7/1941	4
Chicago & North Western	5005A-5006A, 5005B-5006B	1349-1352	E394	8/1941	4
Milwaukee Road	15A, 15B	1363-1364	E396	9/1941	2
Missouri Pacific	7002-7003	1389-1390	E404	10/1941	2
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific	630-631	1424-1425	E415	10/1941	2
Illinois Central	4001-4004	1427-1430	E418	12/1941	4
Kansas City Southern	4-5	1431-1432	E420	1/1942	2
Atlantic Coast Line	516-523	1554-1561	E446	1/1942-4/1942	9
Florida East Coast	1004-1005	1567-1568	E449	2/1942	2
Seaboard Air Line	3015-3016	1593-1594	E458	12/1941	2
Louisville & Nashville	450A-457A, 450B-457B	1614-1629	E467	5/1942-9/1942	16

* Became Seaboard Air Line #3014.

E6B

Total Built = 26

Owner	Road Number	Serial Number	Order Number	Completion Date	Quantity
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe	12A	1062	E302	4/1940	1
Baltimore & Ohio	57-59	1095-1097	E323	9/1940	3
Atlantic Coast Line	750-753	1156-1159	E336	11/1940-1/1941	4
Union Pacific/Chicago & North Western	LA5-LA6	1173-1174	E342	2/1941	2
Union Pacific/Southern Pacific/Chicago & North Western	SF5-SF6	1176-1177	E342	3/1941	2
Southern Railway	2900B-2901B	1219-1220	E357	3/1941-4/1941	2
Southern Railway	2902B-2903B	1226-1227	E363	4/1941-5/1941	2
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe	15A	1243	E370	5/1941	1
Baltimore & Ohio	60-63	1332-1335	E389	6/1941-7/1941	4
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe	13A	1348	E370	3/1941	1
Missouri Pacific	7002B-7003B	1391-1392	E405	10/1941	2
Atlantic Coast Line	754	1562	E447	1/1942	1
Florida East Coast	1051	1569	E450	2/1942	1

Baltimore & Ohio E6A #62 basks in the sun at the Ivy City engine terminal in Washington, D.C. during 1950. Southern Railway E7A #2907 can be seen in the background. William Rinn photo. American-Rails.com collection.

In all, when production ended on the EMC E6 in the late summer of 1942 some 91 E6As and 26 E6Bs had been built, making it by far the most successful single passenger locomotive design the builder ever produced.

With the war ongoing EMD was forced to mostly halt domestic production and focus all of its efforts on winning the conflict.

In 1945, however, it resumed its E series line by cataloging the E7, which along with the E8 were the two most popular models the company would produce.

Sources

Foster, Gerald. A Field Guide To Trains. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1996.

Hayden, Bob. Diesel Locomotives: Cyclopedia, Volume 2 (Model Railroader). Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing Company, 1980.

Marre, Louis A. Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years, A Guide To Diesels Built Before 1972. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing Company, 1995.

Pinkepank, Jerry A. Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing Company, 1967.

Solomon, Brian. EMD Locomotives. Minneapolis: MBI Publishing Company, 2006.

Solomon, Brian. Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America's Favorite Locomotives. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press, 2011.

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