Kansas City Southern Diesel Roster (Built New)

Published: October 25, 2026

Electro-Motive dieselized the Kansas City Southern, and four Baldwin switchers came with that change. The first E units arrived in 1938. Freight and passenger trains were in diesel hands by 1951, and the last 0-8-0s lasted until 1955.

Kansas City Southern F7A 4064 and other covered wagons tied down at Sulphur Springs, Texas, in the summer of 1983

Kansas City Southern F7A 4064 and other covered wagons tied down behind the depot at Sulphur Springs, Texas, in the summer of 1983. These were the last Fs in freight service on a Class I. They handled lignite to TXU’s plant at Pittsburg, Texas, and the plant’s own electrified railroad carried it the last mile. Mike Bledsoe photo. American-Rails.com collection.

On this page: At a glance · Passenger cabs · Freight cabs · Road switchers · Switchers · Roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Kansas City Southern. Company history
This table	Locomotives built new for the Kansas City Southern. A renumber is the same frame
Passenger cabs	10. Three E3As, two E6As, four E8As, and one E9A
F units	75. Twenty-one F3As, twenty F3Bs, fifteen F7As, and nineteen F7Bs
Four-axle road switchers	52. GP7, GP9, GP30, GP38-2, and GP40-2
Six-axle road switchers	243. SD40 through SD70ACe 4129
Switchers	99. Thirty-three NW2s, sixteen SW7s, forty-two SW1500s, four MP15DCs, and four Baldwin S12s
Total	479

Passenger cabs

The passenger cabs are 10. E3A 1–3 arrived in 1938 and 1939, in time for the Southern Belle of September 2, 1940. E6A 4 and 5 followed in 1942. E8A 26–29 came in 1952, and E9A 25 in 1959. E8A 27 had the last Southern Belle, near Pittsburg, Kansas, on November 2, 1969. E8A 28 had train 10, the Flying Crow, at New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal on November 22, 1967. The Belle is its own page.

Freight cabs

The F units are 75. F3A and F3B deliveries of 1947 and 1948 are 21 cabs and 20 boosters. F7A and F7B deliveries of 1949 and 1950 are 15 cabs and 19 boosters. The booster series 32B–33B, 70B–79B, and 72C–78C is those 19 locomotives. Three covered wagons were rebuilt as F9As, numbers 32A, 58D, and 74D, in 1955 and 1956. Those three numbers stay on frames already counted in the F3 and F7 rows.

F7A 4064, in the photograph above, is one of those F7As in a later number. Into the early 1980s a handful of covered wagons still moved lignite to the TXU plant at Pittsburg, Texas, tying up at Sulphur Springs between trips. They were the last Fs in freight service on a Class I.

Road switchers

The four-axle road switchers are 52. Thirteen GP7s, 150–162, came in 1951–1953, and three GP9s, 163–165, in 1959. Twenty GP30s, 100–119, followed in 1962 and 1963. Twelve GP38-2s, 4000–4011, came in 1974–1978, and four GP40-2s, 796–799, in 1979–1981.

The six-axle road switchers in this table are 243. Thirty-seven SD40s, 600–636, arrived from 1966 through 1971, the first of them new at Pittsburg, Kansas, in the summer of 1967. Fifty-six SD40-2s, 637–692, followed from 1972 through 1980. Four SD40X locomotives, 700–703, came in 1979, ten SD50s, 704–713, in 1981, and forty-six SD60s, 714–759, from 1989 through 1991. Ninety SD70ACes, 4000–4059 and 4100–4129, arrived from 2005 through 2008. Numbers 4000–4011 in that series reuse the GP38-2 numbers. They are different locomotives, and both groups are counted. Later SD70ACe deliveries, past 4129, are outside this table.

General Electric ES44AC and ET44AC orders are outside the 479 as well. So is any locomotive the railroad bought secondhand, and so are the diesels that came with the Gateway Western, the MidSouth, the Texas Mexican, and the Mexican company.

Switchers

The switchers are 99. Thirty-three NW2s divide as 1100–1102 and 1200–1229, built from 1939 through 1949. Sixteen SW7s, 1300–1315, came in 1950 and 1951. Forty-two SW1500s, 1500–1541, came from 1966 through 1972. Four MP15DCs, 4363–4366, came in 1975. Baldwin built four S12s, 1160–1163, in April 1951, serials 75054–75057. S12 1160 was still working Kansas City in the mid-1960s.

Roster

Serial and order cells are an em dash where this table does not carry a builder number. The S12 serials are the exception. A later road number in the notes is the same frame.

Model	Numbers	Qty	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
E3A	1–3	3	—	—	1938–1939	—
E6A	4–5	2	—	—	1942	—
E8A	26–29	4	—	—	1952	27 had the last Southern Belle
E9A	25	1	—	—	1959	—
F3A	30A–31A, 50A–59A, 50D–58D	21	—	—	1947–1948	—
F3B	30B–31B, 50B–58B, 50C–58C	20	—	—	1947–1948	—
F7A	32A–33A, 59D, 70A–76A, 72D–76D	15	—	—	1949–1950	4064 is one of these cabs, renumbered
F7B	32B–33B, 70B–79B, 72C–78C	19	—	—	1949–1950	—
GP7	150–162	13	—	—	1951–1953	—
GP9	163–165	3	—	—	1959	—
GP30	100–119	20	—	—	1962–1963	—
GP38-2	4000–4011	12	—	—	1974–1978	Numbers later reused by SD70ACe 4000–4011
GP40-2	796–799	4	—	—	1979–1981	—
SD40	600–636	37	—	—	1966–1971	—
SD40-2	637–692	56	—	—	1972–1980	—
SD40X	700–703	4	—	—	1979	—
SD50	704–713	10	—	—	1981	—
SD60	714–759	46	—	—	1989–1991	—
SD70ACe	4000–4059, 4100–4129	90	—	—	2005–2008	Deliveries past 4129 are outside this table
NW2	1100–1102	3	—	—	1939–1949	The date span covers both NW2 groups
NW2	1200–1229	30	—	—	1939–1949	—
SW7	1300–1315	16	—	—	1950–1951	—
SW1500	1500–1541	42	—	—	1966–1972	—
MP15DC	4363–4366	4	—	—	1975	—
S12	1160–1163	4	75054–75057	—	April 1951	Baldwin

Sources

Kansas City Southern new-order groups: E3A through SD70ACe 4129, and the Electro-Motive switchers, as built for the railroad. Three F9A numbers, 32A, 58D, and 74D, are rebuilds of covered wagons already counted. The F7B number series is 19 locomotives. The NW2s are 33, in two groups.
The Diesel Shop, Baldwin S12 production list. Serials 75054–75057, April 1951, for Kansas City Southern 1160–1163.

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