The EMD NW2 actually began production a few years before the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC) became an official division of General Motors. At the time of the switcher's construction, then-EMC was fast becoming the industrial leader of diesel locomotive manufacturing having released its popular FT cab model that same year. That particular locomotive would silence steam power in main line service nearly single-handedly. For Electro-Motive, it seemed every model it marketed throughout the 1940's and 1950's proved successful, thanks predominantly to its 567 prime mover. The NW2 would go down as one of EMD's most popular line of small switchers. Overall, more than fifty Class I railroads would purchase more than 1,100 NW2's by the time its ten-year production was concluded in the late 1940s!
Today, several of these resilient switchers carry on and can still be seen in industrial applications, small short lines, and tourist lines. Its rugged design is a testament to the engineers and the folks at EMD involved in the model's creation. It is likely you will still be able to find them in operation in another 25+ years.
Another of EMC's original models was the NW, with the "N" originally referring to nine-hundred horsepower and "W" standing for welded frame. However, by the time the NW2 model was developed its letter designation reference was dropped and simply referred to the model's name, as it could produce 1,000 horsepower using the company's new 12-cylinder, 567A model prime mover. The EMD NW2 featured the same, sloped frame near the cab and was just as short at only 44-feet in length. It came equipped with the standard B-B truck arrangement although now EMC/EMD switchers used GM-produced traction motors (model D37) and not those from General Electric, which could produce 31,000 pounds of continuous tractive effort and 62,500 pounds starting.
For a locomotive that only weighed 124 tons and was just over 44 feet in length, this was quite powerful. Likely due to successful testing with early EMC switcher locomotives like the original NW or SC/SW models, and now with the backing of General Motors, sales for the EMD NW2 quickly took off. Not only were the little switchers ideal for any setting and application (industrial, yard duty, light branch work, etc.) but they were also inexpensive allowing both small and large roads to purchase them. EMD also offered a cow-calf version of the NW2 known as the TR, TR2, and TR3. The first and final models (TR, TR3) sold only to the Illinois Central (3 sets) and Chesapeake & Ohio Railway (2 sets). However, the TR2 was fairly successful selling 36 sets amongst the Belt Railway of Chicago, Milwaukee Road, Burlington, Chicago & North Western, Chicago Great Western, Illinois Central, and Southern. The "B" unit was simply a cabless NW2 offering extra horsepower and tractive effort.
Production on the EMD NW2 began in late winter, 1939 and by the end of its production run in December, 1949 some 1,145 units had been built (including "calf," or B, units) for over fifty Class Is and more than eighty railroads in all! It should be noted that the NW2 was popular with industries as companies like Wheeling Steel, Republic Steel Corporation, and especially the Phelps Dodge Corporation all purchased the locomotive. Additionally, it attracted interest from the U.S. Navy, which purchased five for various applications. Two years after the NW2 was developed EMC and the Winton Engine Company became an official division of General Motors on January 1, 1941.
Owner | Road Number(s) | Quantity | Date Built |
---|---|---|---|
Apalachicola Northern Railroad | 701-704 | 4 | 1947 |
Arkansas & Louisiana Missouri Railway | 10 | 1 | 1949 |
Atlantic Coast Line | 601-605 (Odds), 611-615 (Odds) | 6 | 1940-1942 |
Baltimore & Ohio | 400-408, 550-589 | 49 | 1940-1949 |
Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal (B&OCT) | 409-411 | 3 | 1943 |
Bangor & Aroostook | 800-803 | 4 | 1949 |
Boston & Maine | 1200-1213 | 14 | 1941-1949 |
Burlington | 9203-9248 | 46 | 1940-1949 |
Central Of Georgia | 20, 25 | 2 | 1941-1942 |
Central Railroad Of New Jersey (CNJ) | 1060-1061 | 2 | 1942 |
Chesapeake & Ohio | 1850-1856, 5066-5079, 5200-5213 | 35 | 1948-1949 |
Chicago & Eastern Illinois | 119-124 | 6 | 1949 |
Chicago & Western Indiana | 250-251 | 2 | 1947 |
Chicago Great Western | 16-31, 42 | 17 | 1948-1949 |
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha (C&NW) | 70 | 1 | 1940 |
Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific (Southern) | 6050-6056 | 7 | 1941-1942 |
Colorado & Southern Railway (CB&Q) | 150-153 | 4 | 1947-1948 |
Conemaugh & Black Lick Railroad | 100-102 | 3 | 1949 |
Denver & Rio Grande Western | 7000 | 1 | 1941 |
Detroit Terminal Railroad | 104-112, 114-115 | 11 | 1947-1949 |
Detroit, Toledo & Ironton | 910-916 | 7 | 1948 |
Electro-Motive (Demo) | 889 (To Union Pacific, 1000) | 1 | 1939 |
Elgin, Joliet & Eastern | 403-407, 409-443 | 40 | 1940-1949 |
Erie Railroad | 401-427 | 27 | 1939-1949 |
Fort Worth & Denver City Railway (CB&Q) | 603, 605-606 | 3 | 1941-1946 |
Fort Worth Belt Railway | 2 | 1 | 1946 |
Georgia Railroad | 901-905 | 5 | 1948-1949 |
Grand Trunk Western | 7900-7914, 7966-7974 | 24 | 1941-1948 |
Great Northern | 145-162, 302-5331, 5334-5336 | 51 | 1939-1949 |
Illinois Central | 9150-9166 | 17 | 1939-1945 |
Indiana Harbor Belt | 8715-8739, 8774-8802, 8811-8834 | 78 | 1948-1949 |
Indiana Northern Railroad | 100 | 1 | 1948 |
Jacksonville Terminal | 30-36 | 7 | 1947-1949 |
Kansas, Oklahoma & Gulf Railway | 1001 | 1 | 1949 |
Kansas City Southern | 1100-1102, 1200-1211, 1222-1226 | 20 | 1939-1949 |
Lackawanna | 461-465 | 5 | 1945 |
Lake Champlain & Moriah Railroad | 19 | 1 | 1940 |
Lake Superior Terminal & Transfer Railway (GN) | 103-104 | 2 | 1949 |
Lake Terminal Railroad | 1001-1020 | 20 | 1947-1949 |
Lehigh Valley | 180-186 | 7 | 1949 |
Louisiana & Arkansas Railway (KCS) | 1125-1126, 1212-1221 | 12 | 1942-1948 |
Louisville & Nashville | 2240-2244 | 5 | 1949 |
Manistee & North Eastern Railroad | 2-3 | 2 | 1948 |
Maryland & Pennsylvania (Ma & Pa) | 80-81 | 2 | 1946 |
Milwaukee Road | 1647-1654 | 8 | 1939-1947 |
Minneapolis & St. Louis | D-139, D-740 | 2 | 1939-1940 |
Missouri Pacific | 9104-9106 | 3 | 1939-1941 |
Missouri-Illinois Railroad | 51 | 1 | 1949 |
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (Katy) | 1026-1030 | 5 | 1947 |
Monon Railroad | 1-3, 14-17 | 7 | 1942-1947 |
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis | 20-23, 25 | 5 | 1941-1949 |
Nickel Plate Road | 7-22 | 16 | 1942-1948 |
New Orleans & Northeastern Railroad (Southern) | 6850-6851 | 2 | 1941 |
New York, Ontario & Western | 115-131 | 17 | 1948 |
New York Central | 8700-8704, 8750-8773, 8803-8810 | 37 | 1946-1949 |
Northern Pacific | 101-106 | 6 | 1940-1941 |
Pennsylvania | 3909, 5921-5925, 9155-9176, 9247-9250 | 32 | 1941-1948 |
Peoria & Pekin Union Railway | 400-405 | 5 | 1948-1949 |
Pere Marquette | 51-64 | 14 | 1942-1945 |
Phelps Dodge Corporation | 1-8, 1-5 (2nd) | 9 | 1939-1949 |
Philadelphia, Bethlehem & New England | 26-28, 219, 222-225 | 8 | 1941-1948 |
Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (NYC) | 8705-8714, 8740-8749 | 20 | 1947-1949 |
Reading | 90-92, 100-104 | 8 | 1940-1947 |
Republic Steel Corporation | D-815 | 1 | 1942 |
River Terminal Railway | 60 | 1 | 1949 |
Rock Island | 765-774 | 10 | 1948-1949 |
Santa Fe | 2353-2367 | 15 | 1939-1943 |
Seaboard Air Line | 1406-1412 | 7 | 1942 |
Soo Line | 300-301 | 2 | 1939 |
Southern Pacific | 1310-1319, 1403-1425 | 33 | 1941-1949 |
Southern Railway | 2200-2204, 2206-2207, 2233-2248, 2249-2284 | 57 | 1940-1947 |
Spokane, Portland & Seattle | 40-42 | 3 | 1948 |
St. Johns River Terminal Company (Southern) | 8560 | 1 | 1940 |
St. Louis San Francisco Railway (Frisco) | 250-265 | 16 | 1948-1949 |
St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt/SP) | 1050-1053 | 4 | 1949 |
Tennessee Coal & Iron Railroad | 900-902 | 3 | 1947-1948 |
Terminal Railroad Association Of St. Louis (TRRA) | 551-567 | 17 | 1939-1949 |
Texas & New Olreans (SP) | 72-88 | 17 | 1949 |
Texas & Pacific Railway (MP) | 1001-1019 | 19 | 1946-1949 |
Tucson, Cornelia & Gila Bend Railroad | 52 | 1 | 1947 |
U.S. Navy | 1-4, 44 | 5 | 1942-1943 |
Union Pacific | 1000-1095 | 96 | 1939-1948 |
Union Railroad | 536-555 | 20 | 1948-1949 |
Wabash Railroad | 350-352 | 3 | 1946-1949 |
West Virginia Northern Railroad | 50-51 | 2 | 1946-1947 |
Wheeling & Lake Erie | D-1 - D-4 | 4 | 1940-1941 |
Wheeling Steel Corporation | 1251 | 1 | 1948 |
Wisconsin Central (Soo) | 2108 | 1 | 1948 |
Today, the versatility and reliability of these small switchers speaks for itself as many NW2s remain in use in all types of applications. Those that are officially preserved include (listed are original railroad and number) AT&SF #2404, Frisco #261, CN #7944, C&O #5208, CB&Q #9227, GTW #7914, GN #5336, LST&T #101, Ma & Pa #81, Milwaukee Road #1649, Katy #1029, Indiana Northern #100, NYO&W #116, Reading #103, Espee #1905 and #1951, TH&B #51, UP #1011/#DS-1000/#DS-1001/#DS-1011, and W&LE #D3. For information about EMC's various switchers please refer to the chart below.
Header Photo: Drew Jacksich
A popular pastime for many is studying and/or exploring abandoned rights-of-way. Today, there are tens of thousands of miles scattered throughout the country. Many were pulled up in the 1970's and 1980's although others were removed long before that. If you are researching active or abandoned corridors you might want to check out the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Historical Topographic Map Explorer. It is an excellent resource with thousands of historic maps on file throughout the country. Just type in a town or city and click on the timeline of maps at the bottom of the page!
You will be hard pressed at finding a better online resource regarding diesel locomotives than Craig Rutherford's TheDieselShop.us. The website contains everything from historic (fallen flags) to contemporary (Class I's, regionals, short lines, and even some museums/tourist lines) rosters, locomotive production information, technical data, all notable models cataloged by the five major builders (American Locomotive, Electro-Motive, General Electric, Fairbanks-Morse, and Baldwin), and much more. A highly recommended database!
In 1998 a gentleman by the name of Andre Kristopans put together a web page highlighting virtually every unit every out-shopped by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. Alas, in 2013 the site closed by thankfully Don Strack rescued the data and transferred it over to his UtahRails.net site (another fine resource). If you are researching anything EMD related please visit this page first. The information includes original numbers, serials, and order numbers.