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Baldwin VO-1000

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Baldwin VO-1000
Baldwin VO-1000s from the Missouri Pacific Railroad in LaGrange, Illinois on October 6, 1962
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderBaldwin Locomotive Works
ModelVO-1000
Build dateJanuary 1939 – December 1946
Total produced548
Specifications
Configuration:
 • AARB-B
 • UICBo′Bo′
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Loco weight236,260–242,200 lb (107,165.7–109,860.1 kg)
Prime moverDe La Vergne 8-VO
Engine typeStraight-8 Four-stroke diesel
AspirationNaturally aspirated, solid injection
Displacement1,979 cu in (32.43 L) per cylinder
15,831 cu in (259.42 L) total
GeneratorDC generator
Traction motorsDC traction motors
Cylinders8
Cylinder size12+34 in × 15+12 in (324 mm × 394 mm)
TransmissionElectric
Loco brakeStraight air
Train brakesAir
Performance figures
Power output1,000 hp (746 kW)
Tractive effort59,065–60,550 lbf (262.7–269.3 kN)
Career
LocaleNorth America
Disposition10 Preserved, remainder scrapped

The Baldwin VO-1000 is a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works between January 1939 and December 1946. These units were powered by a naturally aspirated eight-cylinder diesel engine rated at 1,000 horsepower (746 kW), and rode on a pair of two-axle trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. These were either the AAR Type-A switcher trucks, or the Batz truck originally developed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a leading truck for steam locomotives. 548 examples of this model were built for American railroads, including examples for the Army and Navy.

Between June and August 1945 Baldwin supplied 30 Co-Co road locomotives with 8-cylinder VO engines for export to the Soviet Union as their Дб20 (Db20) class.

There are at least eight intact examples of the VO-1000 that are known to survive today, most of which are owned by museums or historical societies. However, a VO-1000m is owned by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, a local freight carrier based in Schellville, California.

Conversions

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"Beep" at the Western America Railroad Museum in 2012.

In the early 1960s the Reading Company sent 14 of their VO-1000s to General Motors Electro-Motive Division to have them rebuilt to SW900 specifications. These locomotives retained most of their original carbodies, and were subsequently given the designation VO-1000m.

Around the same time, the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway repowered its VO1000s with turbocharged 606SC Baldwin engines taken from its EMD-repowered fleet of Baldwin DT-6-6-2000 locomotives. The work was performed at EJ&E's Joliet, Illinois workshops, and produced a finished unit that featured an offset exhaust stack and left-side turbocharger bulge, the latter being much like that found on Baldwin road switchers. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad had eight of their VO1000s repowered with EMD 567 series engines, which produced 1,200 hp (890 kW). The Great Northern Railway converted four VO-1000s into transfer cabooses in 1964. The units were stripped to their bare frames (the original trucks and distinctive cast steps were left in place) and fitted with 15-foot (4.6 m)-long steel cabins.

The St. Louis – San Francisco Railway repowered theirs with EMD 567C prime movers in the late 50's and early 60's. The conversion lead to extended use into the late 70's. Most units were retired in 1979, though some were sold off.

In December 1970 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (soon after its successful CF7 capital rebuilding program) produced a unique switcher locomotive, known to railfans as the "Beep", at its Cleburne, Texas service facility. The company hoped to determine whether or not remanufacturing its aging, non-EMD end cab switchers by fitting them with new EMD prime movers was economically prudent. The conversion proved too costly, and only the one unit was modified.

Original owners

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Railroad Quantity Road numbers Notes
Baldwin Locomotive Works (demonstrators)
2
307, 332
to Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway 30–31
1
333
to Central of Georgia Railway 22
1
334
to Minneapolis and St. Louis D-340
American Steel and Wire Company
1
12
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
59
2201–2259
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
9
606–609, 616, 617, 619, 621, 623
Renumbered 10–18
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
25
413–437
Renumbered 9200–9224 at random
Belt Railway of Chicago
2
401–402
Canton Railroad
2
30–31
to Patapsco & Back Rivers 331–332
Central of Georgia Railway
2
26, 27
Central Railroad of New Jersey
5
1062–1066
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
30
9350–9379
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road”)
12
1680–1691
Renumbered 928–939
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
5
760–764
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (“Omaha Road”)
3
87–89
Re-engined by EMD in 1958
Chicago and North Western Railway
12
1024, 1037–1047
Colorado and Wyoming Railway
3
1107–1109
Chicago Short Line Railway
3
100–102
Defense Plant Corporation (Carbon County Railway)
2
262-1, 262-2
to Columbia-Geneva Steel Division, US Steel #36–37
Detroit Terminal Railroad
2
101–102
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway
10
475–484
Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad
1
100
Great Northern Railway
10
5332–5335, 139–144
5332–5335 Renumbered 132–138
Iowa Ordnance Plant
1
1-120
to US War Department 7275
Kennecott Copper Corporation (Bingham and Garfield Railway)
2
801, 803
Kentucky and Indiana Terminal
4
44–47
Lehigh Valley Railroad
5
135–139
Litchfield and Madison Railway
1
100
to C&NW #86; rebuilt by EMD
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
9
2202–2210
Macon, Dublin and Savannah Railroad
1
1000
to SAL 1492; to SCL 84
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway
1
D-145
Renumbered 103
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad
1
310
Missouri Pacific Railroad
6
9103, 9117–9119, 9198, 9199
Missouri Pacific Railroad (International-Great Northern Railroad)
3
9150–9152
Missouri Pacific Railroad (St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway)
5
9153–9155, 9160, 9161
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway
6
15, 30–34
New York Central Railroad
8
8600–8607
renumbered 9300–9307
Northern Pacific Railway
28
108–109, 111–112, 119–124, 153–154, 159–174
Renumbered 400–427 (not in order)
Oliver Iron Mining Company
15
907–915, 918, 919, 922
Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad
4
70–73
Renumbered 326–329
Pennsylvania Railroad
8
5913–5920
Phelps Dodge Corporation
2
9, 10
Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad
2
251, 252
to Patapsco & Back Rivers 328, 330
Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway
1
30
to Patapsco & Back Rivers 355
Reading Company
24
55–59, 71–89
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (“Frisco”)
38
200–237
Repowered with EMD 567 prime mover
St. Louis Southwestern Railway (“Cotton Belt”)
23
1000–1022
1007 to Texas South-Eastern
Seaboard Air Line Railroad
7
1400–1402, 1413–1416
to Seaboard Coast Line 28–30; 37–40
Southern Pacific Company
25
1320–1329, 1371–1385
Southern Railway
1
DS-2205
later renumbered 2205, with no "DS" prefix
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway
5
30-34
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
4
800–803
Tennessee Eastman Corporation
1
4
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis
11
591–601
Union Pacific Railroad
6
1055–1060
Union Railroad
6
500–505
500,501,505 to Patapsco & Back Rivers Railway; 502 to Universal Iron & Steel; 505 to URR Tack & Maintenance 504; 503=?
United States Navy
40
varied by location
United States Department of War
26
7126–7130, 7137–7140, 7143, 7225–7227, 7453–7457, 7461–7464,
V-1800, V-1801
Wabash Railroad
4
300–303
Western Maryland Railway
5
128–132
Western Pacific Railroad
5
581–585
Western Railway of Alabama
4
621–624
Total 548

Preserved examples

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References

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  1. ^ Franz, Justin (2024-09-27). "Oklahoma Railroad Museum Gets Frisco VO-1000M". Railfan & Railroad Magazine. Retrieved 2024-09-27.
  • Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co. pp. 228–291. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.
  • Kirkland, John F. (November 1994). The Diesel Builders volume 3: Baldwin Locomotive Works. Pasadena, California: Interurban Press. ISBN 0-916374-93-9.