Baldwin VO-1000

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Baldwin VO-1000

Western Pacific Railroad #581, a Baldwin VO-1000, is seen here in a September, 1945 builder's photo.
Power type	Diesel-electric
Builder	Baldwin Locomotive Works
Model	VO-1000
Build date	January 1939 — December 1946
Total production	548
AAR wheel arr.	B-B
Gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Length	48 ft 0 in (14.88 m)
Total weight	236,260–242,200 lb (107,000–110,000 kg)
Prime mover	De La Vergne VO
Engine type	2-stroke diesel
Aspiration	Fuel injection
Displacement	15,895 in³ (260.5 L)
Cylinders	Straight-8
Cylinder size	12.75 in × 15.55 in (324 mm × 395 mm)
Transmission	DC generator, DC traction motors
Power output	1,000 hp (746 kW)
Tractive effort	59,065–60,550 lbf (263–269 kN)
Locomotive brakes	Straight air
Train brakes	Air
Locale	North America

The Baldwin VO-1000 was a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works between January, 1939 and December, 1946. The 236,260–242,200 lb (107,000–110,000 kg) units were powered by a normally-aspirated eight-cylinder diesel engine rated at 1,000 horsepower (746 kW), and rode on two-axle AAR Type-A switcher trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. 548 examples of this model were built for American railroads, along with the United States Army and United States Navy. Baldwin replaced the VO-1000 with its model DS-4-4-10 locomotive in 1946.

A print advertisement from the June 5, 1943 issue of Railway Age features Frisco Lines #205, a Baldwin Model VO-1000 locomotive.

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 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 its VO100s repowered with EMD 567 series engines that produced 1,200 hp. 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-long steel cabins.

In December of 1970 the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (following close on the heels of its highly-successful CF7 capital rebuilding program) produced a one-of-a-kind 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 an economically-viable proposition. In the end, the conversion procedure proved too costly and only the one unit was modified, though it remains in active service to this day.

Only seven intact examples of the VO-1000 are known to survive today, all of which are owned by railroad museums or historical societies.

[edit] Units produced

[edit] Footnote

Between June and August, 1945 Baldwin supplied 30 Co-Co road locomotives with 8-cylinder VO engines for export to the Soviet Union.

[edit] References

• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co. ISBN 0-89024-026-4. 
• Baldwin VO-1000 Spotting Features & Phases. Western Rails. Retrieved on December 20, 2005.

[edit] External links

• Baldwin VO-1000 Roster
• BLW Demonstrators, Prototypes and Test Beds
• CKD Praha 6S310DR diesel engine, and the Baldwin VO and 600 series engines
• "Diesel Switcher" article from the Fourth Quarter, 1939 issue of Baldwin-Southwark Magazine featuring the Baldwin VO-1000.
• Existing Baldwin VO Model Units
• Preserved Baldwin and Lima Locomotives
• PRR Diesel Locomotive diagrams: Baldwin VO-1000
• VO-1000 — Original Owners