When was the SW1 First Built

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

hi
I was wondering
When was the SW1 First Built
I am considering it for a layout of the 50’s
I’m sure they’d be around then but thought maybe earlier
Thanx again

Alex

2

The SW1 was Jan 1939 to Nov 1953*

*Production was suspeneded between 1942-45 by the War Production Board, my book says a few were made between 42-43.
660 were built for US RR
1 for Mexico.

3

Thanx alot

4

My little book has come in handy 2 times now for passing info along. Glad to help.

5

Alex,

A couple of sites that may come in handy for you:

The Diesel shop - http://www.thedieselshop.us
Lists the diesel rosters and diesels used on the various RRs

Yard Limit - http://yardlimit.railfan.net/guide/index.html
Info (pics, production years, etc.) on yard and road switchers

Tom

6

I bet there are still SW1s still running at grain elevators and the like.
Dave Nelson

7

legend has it an Alco HH660 stilll operates a Grain El in Ohio

8

If any of you guys ever hear or discover that legend to actually be a reality, let me know. I would LOVE to see an HH660 in action.

Tom

9

Tstage, I know this won’t help you too much due to your location, but
the Northwest Railway Museum at Snoqualmie, Washington has
acquired the ex-NP 651, an HH-660 and the NP’s second diesel.
They intend to operate it on special occasions.

10

We had two or three in the Chicago area. One switched the GATX plant in East Chicago before it shut down and one was switching a scrap dealer in Portage Indiana last I knew. They are/were owned by a rebuilder in Minooka, Illinois who specialized in Alco power.

11

Norm,

According to the Yard Limit web site (http://yardlimit.railfan.net/alco/hh660/index.html), you would be absolutely correct. The NYC bought and ran one HH600 on their line. Except for a couple of very minor dimensional differences, the HH600 and HH660 are virtually identical. In HO scale, one of the two discrepancies is less than 1/32". The other, 1/16"

JJL Models actually makes a resin shell that fits over a modified P2K S1 frame that they remachine. If you’re interested in one, here’s the link: http://www.jjlmodels.com/index.shtml… Not cheap but it sure would be fun to paint, decal, and have on a layout. [:)]

Tom

12

Alex wrote:

“I was wondering When was the SW1 First Built
I am considering it for a layout of the 50’s
I’m sure they’d be around then but thought maybe earlier”

They were available from 1939 to about 1942. And then again from about 1945 to 1953.

Eric