Baldwin VO-660

Baldwin VO-660
D&RGW VO-660 switcher locomotive.
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderBaldwin Locomotive Works
ModelVO-660
Build dateApril 1939 – May 1946
Total produced142
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • AARB-B
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Loco weight197,520–203,980 lb (89,600–92,500 kg)
Prime moverDe La Verne VO
RPM range625 rpm max.
Engine typeStraight-6 Four-stroke diesel
AspirationNormally aspirated, solid fuel injection
Displacement1,979 cu in (32.43 L) per cylinder
11,874 cu in (194.58 L) total
GeneratorDC generator
Traction motorsDC traction motors
Cylinders6
Cylinder size12.75 in × 15.5 in (324 mm × 394 mm)
TransmissionElectric
Loco brakeStraight air
Train brakesAir
Performance figures
Power output660 hp (490 kW)
Tractive effort49,380–50,995 lbf (219.65–226.84 kN)
Career
LocaleNorth America, Cuba

The Baldwin VO-660 was a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works between April, 1939 and May, 1946. The 197,520–203,980 lb (89,600–92,500 kg) units were powered by a six-cylinder diesel engine rated at 660 horsepower (492 kW), and rode on two-axle AAR Type-A switcher trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. 142 examples of this model were built for American railroads, along with the United States Navy. Baldwin replaced the VO-660 with the model DS-4-4-660 in 1946.

In the early 1960s the Reading Company sent all 10 of their VO-660s to General Motors Electro-Motive Division to have them rebuilt to SW900 specifications. These locomotives received new frames, cabs, and carbodies, and reused only the trucks and batteries from the VO-660's.[1] Only four intact examples of the VO-660 are known to survive today. One was built as Baldwin 335, the first production VO-660. It was sold by the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum to SMS Lines to be repaired and put back into operation. SMS also owns the former Warner 11, which is being restored before being put into service. The others are Pickens Railway #2, built in 1946, and Wyandotte Terminal 103, at the Illinois Railway Museum, both of which are inoperable at the present time.

Units produced

Railroad   Quantity   Road numbers Notes
Baldwin Locomotive Works (pre-production units) 1 299 Used as BLW plant switcher
1 62300 to Reading 60
Baldwin Locomotive Works (demonstrator) 1 335 first production VO-660; to Standard Steel Division of Baldwin Locomotive Works 12, to Altoona Railroaders Museum, to SMS Rail Lines, under restoration to active service
1 336 to Elgin, Joliet and Eastern 270
1 337 to Central of Georgia Railway
Akron and Barberton Belt Railroad 1 25
American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) 4 1950–1953
American Steel and Wire Company 3 1, 11, 23-1
Basic Magnesium, Inc. 1 1000
Central Railroad of New Jersey 4 1040–1043
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad 1 110
Chicago and North Western Railway 10 1237–1246
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road”) 1 1649 Renumbered 1635, later renumbered 985
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (“Omaha Road”) 3 58, 59, 68
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad 9 66–74
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway 2 271, 272
Francisco Sugar Company, (Cuba) 1 45
Iowa Ordnance Plant 1 2-100 to US War Dept 7276
Kansas City Southern Railway 1 1150
La Salle and Bureau County Railroad 1 6
Long Island Rail Road 1 403
Louisville and Nashville Railroad 4 20–23
Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway 1 600 Renumbered 60
Minnesota Western Railway 1 1 to MNS 1
Missouri Pacific Railroad 4 9009, 9010, 9012, 9026
Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway 1 10
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad 3 41–43
New York Central Railroad 12 501–502, 752–761 501–502 renumbered 750–751
Northern Pacific Railway 3 128–130 Renumbered 650–652
Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad 3 63–65 Renumbered 301–303
Pennsylvania Railroad 12 5907–5909, 5932–5937, 5941–5943
Procter and Gamble 1 125 Used at Port Ivory, Staten Island, NY
Reading Company 10 61–70
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway 2 600–601
Seaboard Air Line Railroad 1 1202
Singer Manufacturing Company 1 2 to Pickens Railway #2, stored out of service on line
Southern Pacific Company 2 1021–1022
Southern Railway 1 DS2005
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis 4 531–534
Union Terminal Railway of Memphis (Missouri Pacific Railroad) 2 9090–9091
United States Navy 6 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 31
Upper Merion and Plymouth Railroad 2 51–52
Wabash Railroad 1 200
Warner Company 1 11 to New Hope & Ivyland 395, to SMS Rail Lines 11; under restoration
Western Maryland Railway 4 101, 103–105
Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company 1 10
Wyandotte Terminal Railroad 3 101–103 103 preserved at Illinois Railway Museum
Youngstown Sheet and Tube 8 600–607
Total 143

References

  1. ^ "Reading Railroad: Baldwin VO660". Archived from the original on 2009-10-24. Retrieved 2009-10-26.
  • Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.