M&StL SW D-838, McCook, IL, Nov. 15, 1964, photo by Chuck Zeiler

Minneapolis & St Louis SW D-838, McCook, Illinois, November 15, 1964, photo by Chuck Zeiler. It is seen here on Pielet Bros. setout track, which was located across the IHB tracks from EMD's plant in LaGrange. Locomotives traded in for new power would end up here to be scrapped.

This is an EMC Model SW, built in September 1938 (c/n 749) on Order E213. It was one of 77 of this model built between December 1936 and January 1939. It was powered by a Winton 201A eight cylinder inline diesel producing 600 horsepower. The stacks were offset to the left. The electrical gear was most likely GE, although occasionally, Westinghouse electrical equipment was used. The box on the front below the radiator grill was a sandbox. I'm not sure how the cooling air flowed, but there were manually operated hatches on the top of the hood that could be opened to help cool the engine. I don't know the purpose of the three (on each side) small vents at the top of the side of the hood, I would guess they provided ventilation for the carbody, since later EMD switchers came with louvers on the carbody doors.

At the time this locomotive was built, EMC also offered the SC, the same design but built with a Cast frame supplied by General Steel Castings Corp. of Granite City, IL, but EMC preferred to built the SW, which was made with a Welded frame that could be fabricated in their own shops. Only 42 SC's were built.