Baldwin VO-1000 explained

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 1000hp, 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

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 1200hp. 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 15feet-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

bgcolor=#cc9966	Railroad	bgcolor=#cc9966	Quantity	bgcolor=#cc9966	Road numbers	bgcolor=#cc9966	Notes
Baldwin Locomotive Works (demonstrators)			to Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway 30–31
			to Central of Georgia Railway 22
			to Minneapolis and St. Louis D-340
			Renumbered 10–18
			Renumbered 9200–9224 at random
			to Patapsco & Back Rivers 331–332
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road”)			Renumbered 928–939
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (“Omaha Road”)			Re-engined by EMD in 1958
Defense Plant Corporation (Carbon County Railway)			to Columbia-Geneva Steel Division, US Steel #36–37
			5332–5335 Renumbered 132–138
			to US War Department 7275
Kennecott Copper Corporation (Bingham and Garfield Railway)
			to C&NW #86; rebuilt by EMD
			to SAL 1492; to SCL 84
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway			Renumbered 103
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad
Missouri Pacific Railroad
Missouri Pacific Railroad (International-Great Northern Railroad)
Missouri Pacific Railroad (St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway)
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway
New York Central Railroad			renumbered 9300–9307
Northern Pacific Railway			Renumbered 400–427 (not in order)
Oliver Iron Mining Company
Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad			Renumbered 326–329
Pennsylvania Railroad
Phelps Dodge Corporation
Philadelphia, Bethlehem and New England Railroad			to Patapsco & Back Rivers 328, 330
Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway			to Patapsco & Back Rivers 355
Reading Company
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (“Frisco”)			Repowered with EMD 567 prime mover
St. Louis Southwestern Railway (“Cotton Belt”)				1007 to Texas South-Eastern
Seaboard Air Line Railroad			to Seaboard Coast Line 28–30; 37–40
Southern Pacific Company
Southern Railway			later renumbered 2205, with no "DS" prefix
Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company
Tennessee Eastman Corporation
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis
Union Pacific Railroad
Union Railroad			500,501,505 to Patapsco & Back Rivers Railway; 502 to Universal Iron & Steel; 505 to URR Tack & Maintenance 504; 503=?
United States Navy
United States Department of War
Wabash Railroad
Western Maryland Railway
Western Pacific Railroad
Western Railway of Alabama
Total	548

Preserved examples

• B&O #412 is operational in Bridgeport, NJ. (ex-USN #19)
• BOMX #32 is preserved at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD. (ex-Canton Railroad Company #32, exx-Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad #331)
• Colorado and Wyoming Railway #1107 is preserved at the Museum of the American Railroad in Dallas, TX.
• NC&StL #36 is preserved at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, TN. However this engine never served "The Dixie Line," this one served the United States Navy.
• NKP #99 is preserved at the Indiana Transportation Museum in Noblesville, IN. (ex-USN #9) According to unconfirmed reports this locomotive was to be sold to the city of Kokomo, Indiana for static display but the deal was never finalized.
• NNRM (ex. Kennecott Copper) #801 is operational at Nevada Northern Railway in Ely, NV.
• OERM #8 is preserved at the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, CA.
• WMRY #132 is preserved at the Hagerstown Roundhouse Museum in Hagerstown, MD.
• BLW #1200 is preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA.
• SLSF #200 (repowered with an EMD 567C engine and equipped with an EMD SW1200 hood) is preserved at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• SLSF #206 (later USAX #4648 and also repowered with an EMD 567C engine and equipped with an EMD SW1200 hood) is preserved at the Oklahoma Railway Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.^[1]

References

• Book: Pinkepank, Jerry A.. The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach Publishing Co. Milwaukee, WI. 1973. 228–291. 0-89024-026-4.
• Book: Kirkland, John F. . The Diesel Builders volume 3: Baldwin Locomotive Works . November 1994 . Pasadena, California . Interurban Press . 0-916374-93-9 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: Franz . Justin . 2024-09-27 . Oklahoma Railroad Museum Gets Frisco VO-1000M . 2024-09-27 . Railfan & Railroad Magazine . en-CA.