Charleston and Western Carolina Diesel Roster (All-Time)

Published: October 6, 2026

Charleston and Western Carolina dieselization was a three-year Electro-Motive purchase. Twenty-one GP7s, numbers 200–220, arrived in October 1950 and December 1951. Two SW7s, 800 and 801, came in November 1950. Six F7A cabs, 900–905, came in December 1950. Two SW9s, 802 and 803, closed the list in January 1952. That is thirty-one locomotives. They were lettered CWC and painted in the Coast Line’s purple, aluminum, and yellow.

Each locomotive is listed once, at the number it carried on the Charleston and Western Carolina. The Atlantic Coast Line and Seaboard Coast Line numbers are the ones on the Atlantic Coast Line diesel roster. Electro-Motive order numbers are the ones on that roster. The company story is the Charleston and Western Carolina page. The operating Coast Line merged the railroad on December 31, 1959.

Charleston & Western Carolina GP7 #207 is seen here at what is likely Augusta, Georgia, circa 1955. Photographer unknown.

On this page: At a glance · Switchers · GP7s · F7As

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Charleston and Western Carolina. Mark CWC. Company Charleston and Western Carolina
Fleet	Thirty-one units, all Electro-Motive, 1950–1952
Road switchers	GP7 200–220, twenty-one locomotives. October 1950 and December 1951. Later ACL 254–274
Switchers	SW7 800–801, November 1950. SW9 802 and 803, January 1952. Later ACL 717–720
Freight cabs	F7A 900–905, December 1950. Later ACL 424–429
Paint	Purple, aluminum, and yellow, lettered CWC
Merger	Into the Atlantic Coast Line on December 31, 1959. Seaboard Coast Line numbers followed on July 1, 1967

C&WC numbers, serials, orders, and builder dates follow the Atlantic Coast Line diesel roster, which took these locomotives into its own number series. The Charleston and Western Carolina compilation at thedieselshop.us, Ken Ardinger, new September 13, 2016, is the subsidiary list those rows came from. Information compiled October 6, 2026.

Switchers, 800–803

The yard engines were four units. SW7s 800 and 801 are serials 13022 and 13023, order 6176, November 1950. They became Atlantic Coast Line 717 and 718, then Seaboard Coast Line 199 and 200. The two SW9s share order 4129 and the month of January 1952. No. 802 is serial 14942, later ACL 719 and SCL 201. No. 803 is serial 15602, later ACL 720 and SCL 202. The serials sit apart from each other.

Model	C&WC numbers	ACL numbers	SCL numbers	Serial	Order	Built
SW7	800–801	717–718	199–200	13022–13023	6176	November 1950
SW9	802	719	201	14942	4129	January 1952
SW9	803	720	202	15602	4129	January 1952

Twenty-one GP7s

The GP7 was the road engine. Numbers 200–220 are twenty-one locomotives, and on the Coast Line they became 254–274. The October 1950 engines are serials 12897–12907. The first two, 200 and 201, are order 6187. Nos. 202–210 are order 6170. The serials run straight through from 12897 to 12907, and the order number changes at 202. The December 1951 engines, 211–220, are order 5095. Nos. 211–219 carry serials 14943–14951. No. 220, serial 15599, is the same order and the same month, and its serial sits apart from that run.

Three of the GP7s left the family in later sales, and the notes name them the same way the Coast Line roster does. No. 201, later ACL 255, went to the Aberdeen, Carolina & Western as 1783 (1604). Nos. 211 and 213, later ACL 265 and 267, went to the same railroad as 1785 and 1835. No. 220, later ACL 274, went to RLIX 473. The rows break at a change of order number, at a gap in the serials, and where a later sale belongs to one unit inside a span.

Model	C&WC numbers	ACL numbers	SCL numbers	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
GP7	200	254	854	12897	6187	October 1950
GP7	201	255	855	12898	6187	October 1950	Sold to the Aberdeen, Carolina & Western as 1783 (1604)
GP7	202	256	856	12899	6170	October 1950
GP7	203–204	257–258	857–858	12900–12901	6170	October 1950
GP7	205–206	259–260	859–860	12902–12903	6170	October 1950
GP7	207, 209–210	261, 263–264	861, 863–864	12904, 12906–12907	6170	October 1950
GP7	208	262	862	12905	6170	October 1950
GP7	211 and 213	265 and 267	865 and 867	14943 and 14945	5095	December 1951	Sold to the Aberdeen, Carolina & Western as 1785 and 1835
GP7	212	266	866	14944	5095	December 1951
GP7	214	268	868	14946	5095	December 1951
GP7	215–219	269–273	869–873	14947–14951	5095	December 1951
GP7	220	274	874	15599	5095	December 1951	Sold to RLIX 473

Six F7A cabs

The freight cabs are six F7As, 900–905, serials 12979–12984, order 6172, December 1950. They became Atlantic Coast Line 424–429 and Seaboard Coast Line 408–413. They are A units. The Coast Line roster counts them among the F7 cabs that filled numbers 348 through 429.

Model	C&WC numbers	ACL numbers	SCL numbers	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
F7A	900–905	424–429	408–413	12979–12984	6172	December 1950

Sources

Atlantic Coast Line diesel roster, for the C&WC numbers, the ACL and SCL numbers, the serials, and the Electro-Motive order numbers.
Ken Ardinger, Charleston & Western Carolina compilation, thedieselshop.us, new September 13, 2016, reference LocoNotes II, issue 246, for the subsidiary list those Coast Line rows identify.
Andre Kristopans, EMD order lists, as already matched to these serials on the Atlantic Coast Line diesel roster.

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