EMD E6

EMD E6

Rock Island E6A #630, operated by Midland Railway, at Baldwin City, Kansas on November 28, 2004
Type and origin
Power type Diesel-electric
Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
Model E6
Build date November 1939 – September 1942
Total produced 91 A units, 26 B units
Specifications
AAR wheel arr. A1A-A1A
Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Trucks EMD Blomberg A-1-A passenger
Wheel diameter 36 in (914 mm)
Minimum curve 23° (250.79 ft or 76.44 m radius)
Wheelbase 57 ft 1 in (17.40 m)
Length 70 ft 4 in (21.44 m) over coupler pulling faces
Width 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m)
Height 14 ft 10 in (4.52 m)r
Loco weight 311,300 lb (141,200 kg)
Prime mover (2) EMD 567
RPM range 800
Engine type V12 Two-stroke diesel
Aspiration Roots-type supercharger
Displacement 6,804 cu in (111.50 L) each
Generator (2) EMD D-4
Traction motors (4) EMD D-7
Cylinders (2) 12
Performance figures
Power output 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) total
Career
Disposition Two preserved, remainder scrapped

The EMD E6 was a 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A, passenger train locomotive manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation, and its corporate successor, General Motors Electro-Motive Division, of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, or E6A, was manufactured from November, 1939 to September, 1942, and 91 were produced. The booster version, or E6B, was manufactured from April, 1940 to February, 1942, and 26 were produced. The 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW) was achieved by putting two 1,000-horsepower (750 kW), 12-cylinder, model 567 engines in the engine compartment. Each engine drove its own electrical generator to power the traction motors. The E6 was the seventh model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.

Compared with passenger locomotives made later by EMD, the noses of the E3, E4, E5,and E6 cab units had pronounced slants when viewed from the side. Therefore, these four models have been nicknamed "slant nose" units. Later E models had the "bulldog nose" of the F series.

One interesting E6 variant custom-produced for the Missouri Pacific was the model EMC AA. This was a motorcar-style unit which had only one prime mover and 1,000 horsepower (750 kW), and substituted a baggage compartment where the other diesel V-12 would have been. The Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific owned an equally interesting pair of similar power cars known as the EMC AB6, which were mechanically identical but had boxcabs in blunt noses. These acted as boosters behind conventional E6A models on the Rocky Mountain Rocket train between Chicago and Limon, Colorado, from where the E6A would take the Denver cars north and the AB6 would take the Colorado Springs section of the train south.

Original owners

Railroad Quantity
A units 		Quantity
B units 		Road numbers
A units 		Road numbers
B units 		Notes
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)
1
—
1940
—
to Seaboard Air Line 3014
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
22
5
502–523
750–754
ACL 501, often identified as an E6A, was built as an E3A but wrecked before delivery and rebuilt by EMC as an E6A.
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
4
3
12–15
12A, 13A, 15A
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
8
7
52, 57–63
57x–63x
Chicago and North Western Railway
4
—
5005A,B, 5006A,B
—
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
5
—
627–631
—
Florida East Coast Railway
3
1
1003–1005
1051
Illinois Central Railroad
5
—
4000–4004
—
Kansas City Southern Railway
2
—
4, 5
—
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
16
—
450A,B–457A,B
—
Milwaukee Road
2
—
15A,B
—
Missouri Pacific Railroad
2
2
7002–7003
7002B–7003B
Seaboard Air Line Railroad
2
—
3015–3016
—
EMD Demonstrator 1940 became SAL 3014
Southern Railway
7
4
2800–2802
2900–2903
2900B–2903B
Union Pacific Railroad
6
—
7M1A, 7M2A, 8M1A, 8M2A, 9M1A, 9M2A
—
UP-C&NW joint City of Los Angeles
1
2
LA-4
LA-5, LA-6
UP-SP-C&NW joint City of San Francisco
1
2
SF-4
SF-5, SF-6
Total 91 26

Surviving units

Three E6s survive today. One was operated by the Midland Railway, in Baldwin City, Kansas but has since been sold and may become part of a future museum in Manly, Iowa or possibly be restored to operation. It is ex-Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad E6A #630.

Another E6 is located at the Kentucky Railway Museum, in New Haven, Kentucky. It is ex-Louisville and Nashville E6A #770, built as L&N 450B. This unit is for display only, as it came to the museum without a majority of its internal parts.

The final E6, Atlantic Coast Line 501, was built as an E3, wrecked, and rebuilt as an E6. ACL 501 has been at or near operational status for much of its life. After retirement from regular service, the unit was restored to purple Champion streamliner colors and run on midwest fan trips by owner Glenn Monhart. After Mr. Monhart's death, the unit found a home in Spencer, North Carolina, at their prominent railroad museum. This was the only E6 present at "Streamliners at Spencer", the largest assemblage of E-units since retirement from regular service in Chicago around 1993.

See also

References

  • Dorin, Patrick C. (1972). Chicago and North Western Power. Superior Publishing. p. 130. ISBN 0-87564-715-4. 
  • Lamb, J. Parker (2007). Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive. Railroads Past and Present. Bloomington, IN, USA: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253348630. 
  • Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years: A Guide to Diesels Built Before 1972. Railroad Reference Series (Book 10). Waukesha, WI, USA: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0890242585. 
  • Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Company. pp. EMD–121–EMD–123. ISBN 0-89024-026-4. 
  • Schafer, Mike (1998). Vintage Diesel Locomotives. Enthusiast Color Series. Osceola, WI, USA: MBI Publishing. ISBN 0760305072. 
  • Solomon, Brian (2000). The American Diesel Locomotive. Osceola, WI, USA: MBI Publishing. ISBN 0760306664. 
  • Solomon, Brian (2006). EMD Locomotives. St. Paul, MN: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2396-0. 
  • Solomon, Brian (2010). Vintage Diesel Power. Minneapolis, MN, USA: MBI Publishing. ISBN 9780760337950. 
  • Solomon, Brian (2011). Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America's Favorite Locomotives. Minneapolis, MN, USA: Voyageur Press. ISBN 9780760340073. 
  • Solomon, Brian (2012). North American Locomotives: A Railroad-by-Railroad Photohistory. Minneapolis, MN, USA: Voyageur Press. ISBN 9780760343708. 
  • Wilson, Jeff (2002). E Units: Electro-Motive's Classic Streamliners. Classic Trains / Golden Years of Railroading series. Waukesha, WI, USA: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0890246068. 
  • Roster data E6A http://utahrails.net/ajkristopans/PASSENGERUNITS.php#ea6
  • Roster data E6B http://utahrails.net/ajkristopans/PASSENGERUNITS.php#eb6
  • Roster data AA http://utahrails.net/ajkristopans/PASSENGERUNITS.php#aa
  • Roster data AB http://utahrails.net/ajkristopans/PASSENGERUNITS.php#ab

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