EMD "E9" Locomotives: Specs, Roster, History
Last revised: October 28, 2026
By: Adam Burns
The E9 was Electro-Motive’s last streamlined passenger locomotive with the bulldog nose. Each unit carried two 12-cylinder 567C engines, 1,200 horsepower apiece, for 2,400 horsepower, and rode on A1A-A1A trucks with four D37 traction motors. La Grange built 99 cab units and 44 boosters from April 1954 through January 1964.
It was a better E8, offered to a market that had already moved on. Brian Solomon, in Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units, puts the thin order book on the public’s fading interest in rail travel and on the fact that most railroads had already dieselized their first-class trains. Nine railroads bought the E9 new. Union Pacific took the largest fleet, 35 cab units and 34 boosters. A tenth locomotive, Kansas City Southern 25, was an E6 rebuilt to E9 specifications and stands outside the 99.
Union Pacific E9A 952 has just arrived at Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal with the westbound “City of Los Angeles,” while Santa Fe F7A 46-C waits on Track 12 with a “San Diegan,” in March 1971. Drew Jacksich photo.
On this page: At a glance · The last bulldog · Who bought them · Specifications · Gear ratios and speed · After the passenger train · Production roster
At a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Builder | Electro-Motive Division, General Motors, La Grange, Illinois |
| Models | E9A, the cab unit. E9B, the booster. Both 70 feet 3 inches over the coupler faces |
| Built | April 1954 through January 1964 |
| Engine | Two EMD 12-567C engines. Bore 8 1/2 inches, stroke 10 inches. 1,200 horsepower each at 800 rpm. Idle 275 rpm. Together, 2,400 horsepower |
| New locomotives | 99 cab units and 44 boosters |
| Trucks | A1A-A1A, Blomberg, 14-foot 1-inch rigid wheelbase, 36-inch wheels, four D37 motors |
| Gear ratios | 57:20 at 85 mph, 56:21 at 92, 55:22 at 98, 52:25 at 117 |
| First | Illinois Central 4034 and 4035, serials 18787 and 18788, April 1954 |
| Last | Union Pacific 912–914, order 7689, December 1963–January 1964 |
| Work | First-class passenger trains, then freight, business trains, and preservation |
The last bulldog
Production opened in April 1954, the last model in a line that ran to ten designs and began with the EA and the E1 of 1937 and 1938, built for the Baltimore & Ohio and the Santa Fe. The E8 had been the big seller. The E9 was the more finished locomotive, with nearly twenty years of the series worked into it. Some of both models were still in commuter service in the 1980s and 1990s.
Bob Hayden, in Diesel Locomotives: Cyclopedia, Volume 2, treats the E8 and the E9 as almost the same locomotive from the outside, apart from the headlight. Gerald Foster, in A Field Guide to Trains, names the one difference a spotter can use: the headlight glass sits back in the E8 nose and flush with the E9 nose.
Union Pacific E9s in freight service in the late 1960s. Location not listed. American-Rails.com collection.
Under the floor the two models were not the same. The E9 belonged to Electro-Motive’s “9” line, with the GP9, the SD9, the F9, and the FP9, and it used the 567C. A pair of V-12s gave 2,400 horsepower, 150 horsepower more than the E8’s 2,250. Solomon notes that the 567C crankcase is the one with round handhole covers, where the earlier engines had rectangular covers. The operating manual describes the same covers, and an improved cooling circuit that did away with most of the water leaks. The new crankcase worked well enough that Electro-Motive would rebuild an older 567 as a 567AC or a 567BC.
Each unit was two power plants. A 12-567C, a D15B main generator, and a 10-kilowatt auxiliary generator stood over each truck, and each plant fed two D37 traction motors. The engineman could isolate either plant and leave the other online. The sales folder called that arrangement a full reserve in both propulsion and train heating, because the railroad could also order two steam generators. The manual is plainer: one large generator or two small ones, of the Vapor OK series, set in a compartment at the rear of the carbody.
Electro-Motive’s photograph of Southern Pacific E9A 6051, just finished, in December 1954. The locomotive is preserved in Daylight paint at the California State Railroad Museum, and it has run for the museum.
Who bought them
By the spring of 1954 the postwar hope for the passenger train had thinned, and dieselization of the name trains was largely done. Sales ran far behind the E7 and the E8. The nine buyers were the Illinois Central, Union Pacific, the Burlington, the Milwaukee Road, the Southern Pacific, the Florida East Coast, the Baltimore & Ohio, the Seaboard Air Line, and the Chicago & Eastern Illinois.
Illinois Central 4034 and 4035, serials 18787 and 18788, were the first, finished in April 1954. The railroad came back for more through May 1961 and closed its cab fleet at 4043. Union Pacific’s first E9s, 943–947 and boosters 950B–959B, followed in May and June 1954. The last new locomotives were Union Pacific 912–914, order 7689, finished from December 1963 into January 1964.
Milwaukee Road E9A 35-C, the former 205C, waits at St. Paul Union Depot with an eastbound “Hiawatha” in May 1968. Fred Byerly photo. American-Rails.com collection.
The Milwaukee Road took eighteen cab units and six boosters, the second-largest fleet. Twelve of the cabs, 200A and 200C through 205A and 205C, came in April and May 1956, and the road later renumbered that set 30A and 30C through 35A and 35C. The six cabs of April 1961, 36A and 36C through 38A and 38C, kept the numbers they were built with. The Burlington’s sixteen were all cab units. Ten of them, 9985A and 9985B through 9989A and 9989B, carry an A and a B in the road number. Both are cabs. The Southern Pacific’s nine, 6046–6054, were finished in December 1954 for the Daylight trains. The Florida East Coast’s five, 1031–1035, went to the Illinois Central in later years as 2036–2040. The Baltimore & Ohio’s four even numbers, 34, 36, 38, and 40, became 1454–1457. The Seaboard bought one, 3060, in October 1963. The Chicago & Eastern Illinois bought one, the second 1102, in August 1958.
Baltimore & Ohio E9A 1457, the former 40, leaves Chicago with train 10, the eastbound “Washington Express,” Chicago to Washington, in September 1967.
Two railroads that knew the E series passed on the E9, and their reasons are the ones Solomon records. The Santa Fe had bought the E1 and then stopped. The railroad wanted more axles under a passenger train on Raton, Cajon, and Tehachapi, and it assigned F7s, and the F3s before them, to the Chicago trains. Electro-Motive later rebuilt the E1s to E8 specifications. The Santa Fe never came back for an E9. The Southern Pacific called the E7 a “frail device” and preferred the Alco PA, which offered more tractive effort and, at the time, dynamic brakes that Electro-Motive was not yet selling on an E unit. The remark carried weight. In the 1940s and 1950s the Southern Pacific was one of the largest railroads in the country. It did come back. The nine E9s of December 1954 were the return.
The New York Central ordered six E9 cab units, serials 19635–19640, and cancelled the order before the locomotives were built. Illinois Central cancelled two more, serials 23194 and 23195, off the order that produced 4041 and 4042. Those eight numbers are not in the 99.
Specifications
The figures below are from Electro-Motive’s E9 operating manual, No. 2316, of September 1954. A cab unit weighed about 316,500 pounds fully loaded, a booster about 308,300. Weight on drivers was about 210,750 pounds on the cab and about 207,500 on the booster. The center axle of each truck carried weight and had no motor, which is why the weight on drivers sits well under the weight of the locomotive. The manual publishes continuous tractive effort for each gear. It does not publish a starting figure.
Dynamic brakes were an extra, listed with the optional equipment, and a booster was not automatically fitted with them. Steam heat was the same kind of choice: one large Vapor generator or two small ones. The basic water tank held 1,350 gallons, and the hatch tank raised that to 1,950. Fuel was 1,200 gallons. Each engine carried 165 gallons of lubricating oil, and the cooling system held 200 gallons per engine at the G valve. Sand was about 22 cubic feet.
| Item | E9A and E9B |
|---|---|
| Horsepower | 2,400 (two 12-567C engines at 1,200 each) |
| Engine speed | 800 rpm. Idle 275 rpm |
| Cylinders | 12 per engine. Bore 8 1/2 inches, stroke 10 inches |
| Main generators | Two D15B, one per engine |
| Traction motors | Four D37, two per truck |
| Wheel arrangement | A1A-A1A. Four driving axles. Blomberg trucks |
| Wheels | 36 inches. Truck wheelbase 14 feet 1 inch. Truck centers 43 feet |
| Length | 70 feet 3 inches between coupler pulling faces |
| Height | 14 feet 10 1/2 inches over the horns |
| Width | 10 feet 8 inches outside the grab irons |
| Weight, loaded | About 316,500 lb (cab). About 308,300 lb (booster) |
| Weight on drivers | About 210,750 lb (cab). About 207,500 lb (booster) |
| Fuel | 1,200 gallons |
| Lubricating oil | 165 gallons per engine |
| Cooling water | 200 gallons per engine, at the G valve |
| Steam-generator water | 1,350 gallons. 1,950 gallons with the hatch tank |
| Sand | About 22 cubic feet |
| Minimum curve | 274-foot radius, 21 degrees |
| Multiple-unit control | Standard |
| Dynamic brake | Optional |
Gear ratios and speed
Electro-Motive offered four gear ratios, cut as axle-gear teeth to pinion teeth, all on 36-inch wheels. The railroad could change the ratio later by changing the gears and pinions. The lowest ratio, 57:20, held the locomotive to 85 miles an hour and gave the highest continuous rating, 27,000 pounds at 27 miles an hour. The highest, 52:25, was the fast passenger gear, 117 miles an hour, and the continuous rating fell to 19,500 pounds at 37 miles an hour. The speeds and the continuous ratings are the pairs in the September 1954 manual. Each continuous figure applies at the speed in that row.
| Gear ratio | Maximum speed | Continuous tractive effort | At |
|---|---|---|---|
| 52:25 | 117 mph | 19,500 lb | 37 mph |
| 55:22 | 98 mph | 23,500 lb | 31 mph |
| 56:21 | 92 mph | 25,000 lb | 29 mph |
| 57:20 | 85 mph | 27,000 lb | 27 mph |
After the passenger train
The E9 closed the classic E series. What followed in the catalog was a cowl, such as the FP45, or a dual-service road-switcher, the SDP35, the SDP40, and the SDP45. The E9s already built stayed in passenger service as long as the trains did, and then a good many of them went into freight. Union Pacific used them that way in the late 1960s. Amtrak drew E9s from several of the railroads in the roster, Union Pacific and the Milwaukee Road among them.
Union Pacific still keeps three of the locomotives for its heritage trains: E9A 949, E9A 951, and E9B 963B. No. 963B was built as 970B. A 1993 rebuild took out the two 567C engines and put in a single 16-cylinder 645E, rated at 2,000 horsepower. They are E9s in the carbody and in the road numbers, and they are no longer the locomotives La Grange delivered.
Illinois Central executive units 101 and 100 lay over at Woodcrest Shops, Homewood, Illinois, on August 31, 1996. They were built as Chicago, Burlington & Quincy E8As 9977 and 9938A, and they are not part of the E9 production count. Photographer unknown. American-Rails.com collection.
Southern Pacific 6051, from the December 1954 order, is the Daylight survivor at the California State Railroad Museum. Other E9s are preserved around the country. The production roster below counts each new locomotive once.
Illinois Central E9A 4040 tied down at South Yard, Memphis, on November 13, 1966. American-Rails.com collection.
Milwaukee Road E9A 36C at Atwood Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin, with a football special in November 1966. No. 36C is from the April 1961 order. Rick Burn photo.
Production roster
Electro-Motive’s order list accounts for 99 new E9A cab units and 44 new E9B boosters, 143 locomotives. Each row is one builder order. A renumber is not a second locomotive. The Kansas City Southern rebuild is tabulated after the cab units and is not in the 99. Serial and order numbers follow the Electro-Motive serial record as compiled by Andre Kristopans.
E9A
| Railroad | Road numbers | Qty | Serial numbers | Order | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois Central | 4034–4035 | 2 | 18787–18788 | 2062 | 4/1954 | First E9s |
| Union Pacific | 943–947 | 5 | 19281–19285 | 2058A | 5/1954–6/1954 | |
| Illinois Central | 4036 | 1 | 19608 | 7517 | 6/1954 | Followed E6A 4004 off the roster, May 1954 |
| Chicago, Burlington & Quincy | 9990–9995 | 6 | 19629–19634 | 2065A | 7/1954–8/1954 | |
| Southern Pacific | 6046–6054 | 9 | 20095–20103 | 2068A | 12/1954 | 6051 is preserved at the California State Railroad Museum |
| Florida East Coast | 1031–1035 | 5 | 20083–20087 | 2067A | 1/1955 | Later Illinois Central 2036–2040 |
| Baltimore & Ohio | 34, 36, 38, 40 | 4 | 20377–20380 | 2069A | 5/1955 | Later 1454–1457. No. 40 became 1457 |
| Union Pacific | 948–956 | 9 | 20485–20493 | 2070A | 5/1955–10/1955 | 949 is one of the three heritage units |
| Union Pacific | 957–962 | 6 | 20494–20499 | 2072A | 9/1955–11/1955 | 951 is a heritage unit |
| Chicago, Burlington & Quincy | 9985A, 9985B–9989A, 9989B | 10 | 20533–20542 | 2071A | 12/1955–1/1956 | A and B are cab suffixes |
| Union Pacific | 900–907 | 8 | 21261–21268 | 7527A | 1/1956–5/1956 | |
| Illinois Central | 4037–4038 | 2 | 21819–21820 | 7528A | 1/1956 | |
| Milwaukee Road | 200A, 200C–205A, 205C | 12 | 21601–21612 | 2075A | 4/1956–5/1956 | Later 30A, 30C–35A, 35C. No. 35-C is former 205C |
| Illinois Central | 4039–4040 | 2 | 22592–22593 | 7532A | 7/1956, 2/1957 | |
| Illinois Central | 4041–4042 | 2 | 23190, 23193 | 7547A | 5/1957, 1/1958 | Two further cabs on this order were cancelled |
| Chicago & Eastern Illinois | 1102 | 1 | 24733 | 7565A | 8/1958 | Second use of No. 1102 |
| Milwaukee Road | 36A, 36C–38A, 38C | 6 | 26565–26570 | 7596A | 4/1961 | |
| Illinois Central | 4043 | 1 | 26654 | 7600A | 5/1961 | |
| Union Pacific | 908–909 | 2 | 26672–26673 | 7604A | 8/1961 | |
| Union Pacific | 910–911 | 2 | 27694–27695 | 7629A | 12/1962 | |
| Seaboard Air Line | 3060 | 1 | 28524 | 7667A | 10/1963 | |
| Union Pacific | 912–914 | 3 | 28667–28669 | 7689A | 12/1963–1/1964 | Last E9s built |
Rebuild
Kansas City Southern 25 was not a new E9. Electro-Motive rebuilt it in June 1959 from E6A 5, which had been built in January 1942 as serial 1432. The rebuild took order 8061 and serial 25355. It is the second locomotive to carry No. 25.
| Railroad | Road number | Serial | Order | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Southern | 25 | 25355 | 8061 | 6/1959 | Rebuild of E6A 5, serial 1432, January 1942. Outside the 99 |
The Pennsylvania is not in the cab table. Its E8A 5805 was wrecked at Chicago Union Station on March 10, 1954, and a second 5805 later carried that number. Electro-Motive’s E9 order list does not include the replacement.
E9B
| Railroad | Road numbers | Qty | Serial numbers | Order | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Union Pacific | 950B–959B | 10 | 19286–19295 | 2058B | 5/1954–6/1954 | |
| Union Pacific | 960B–966B | 7 | 20500–20506 | 2070B | 5/1955–7/1955 | |
| Union Pacific | 967B–974B | 8 | 20507–20514 | 2072B | 9/1955–10/1955 | 970B is now heritage unit 963B |
| Union Pacific | 900B–904B | 5 | 21269–21273 | 7527B | 1/1956–2/1956 | |
| Milwaukee Road | 200B–205B | 6 | 21613–21618 | 2075B | 2/1956–4/1956 | Later 30B–35B |
| Illinois Central | 4106–4107 | 2 | 22594–22595 | 7532B | 9/1956–11/1956 | |
| Illinois Central | 4108–4109 | 2 | 23191–23192 | 7547B | 7/1957, 10/1957 | |
| Union Pacific | 910B–911B | 2 | 27696–27697 | 7629B | 12/1962 | |
| Union Pacific | 912B–913B | 2 | 28670–28671 | 7689B | 11/1963–12/1963 |
Sources
- Electro-Motive Division. Diesel Locomotive Operating Manual No. 2316, Model E9. La Grange, Ill.: General Motors Corporation, September 1954. General data sheet E9-1-854: weights, gear ratios, continuous tractive effort, speeds, fuel, lube oil, cooling water, sand, steam-generator water, and dimensions. Section 1: the 12-567C at 1,200 horsepower and 800 rpm, idle 275 rpm, the D15B main generator, the D37 traction motor, round handhole covers, and one large or two small steam generators. Dynamic braking is covered under locomotive extras.
- Electro-Motive Division. E9 sales folder. La Grange, Ill.: General Motors. Two 12-567C engines, the D37 traction motor, four gear ratios and their maximum speeds, and the offer of two steam generators.
- Andre Kristopans, EMD E9A and E9B order list, TrainWeb. One row here is one order on that list. The Kansas City Southern rebuild is kept out of the new-locomotive count. Illinois Central 4034 and 4035 are carried as order 2062.
- Bob Hayden, ed. Diesel Locomotives: Cyclopedia, Volume 2. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing Company, 1980. The E8 and the E9, and the headlight.
- Gerald Foster. A Field Guide to Trains. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. Recessed headlight glass on the E8, flush glass on the E9.
- Brian Solomon. Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America’s Favorite Locomotives. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press, 2011. The sales collapse, the 567C handhole covers, the Santa Fe’s preference for F units on Raton, Cajon, and Tehachapi, and the Southern Pacific’s view of the E7.
Related pages: Union Pacific · Illinois Central · Milwaukee Road · Burlington · Southern Pacific · Seaboard Air Line · Florida East Coast · Chicago & Eastern Illinois · Kansas City Southern · Pennsylvania · F7 · Alco PA · Diesel locomotives
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The Chicago Transit Board approved a design contract for about 13 miles of Blue Line track from the Illinois Medical District to the I-290 Bridge. The release summary calls it a $17 million contract… -
Kanawha River Railroad: The Norfolk Southern Lease Is Renewed
Nov 04, 26 10:51 AM
Kanawha River Railroad filed to keep leasing 309.45 miles from Norfolk Southern in West Virginia and Ohio. The second amendment is dated August 17, 2026. The Board has not set the date the exemption t… -
Short Line Center Awarded a $5.625 Million Grant
Nov 04, 26 10:35 AM
The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association received a $5.625 million CRISI grant on October 20, 2026, for the Short Line Training Center. A 25 percent match brings the project to $7.5 m… -
Palestine and Rusk Track Rebuild Finishes Its First Phase
Nov 04, 26 09:13 AM
The Texas & Eastern Railroad has finished the first phase of a roughly $30 million track project between Palestine and Rusk. Phase I used a $13.4 million CRISI grant. Phase II, at $8.54 million, adds… -
Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx Get Subway Power Design
Nov 04, 26 09:12 AM
STV said on November 2, 2026, that MTA Construction and Development selected the firm to manage design of 10 subway substations and 12 circuit breaker houses in four New York boroughs. No contract pri… -
Chicago's Regional Transit Budget Goes Out for Comment
Nov 04, 26 09:07 AM
The Northern Illinois Transit Authority opened its first regional budget for comment through December 4, 2026. The proposal is $5.04 billion for 2027 operations and $9.73 billion in capital work throu… -
VIA Rail Finishes the Toronto Maintenance Centre
Nov 04, 26 09:05 AM
VIA Rail completed a four-year modernization of its Toronto Maintenance Centre on November 2, 2026. The Government of Canada invested $310 million. The shop supports 32 Corridor trainsets and will sus… -
Brightline Suspends Orlando Service for High Water
Nov 04, 26 09:02 AM
Brightline suspended trains between Orlando and West Palm Beach on November 2, 2026, because of high water in Brevard County. A later post the same day kept the suspension until 2:00 p.m. on November…
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