Internal Combustion Locomotives

EMD 1951 Southern Pacific 1518
EMD 1951
Southern Pacific 1518
Description:Diesel-Electric SD-7

Equipment Information

Southern Pacific 1518 is the first SD-series (Special Duty) “road switcher” freight locomotive ever built. It was constructed at the EMD plant in LaGrange as prototype, or demonstrator, number 990 and was later sold to the SP. It is the forerunner of some 17,000 SD-series locomotives built between 1948 and the present.

COMPARE ME WITH: Chicago Burlington & Quincy 504, an SD-24 built eight years after SP 1518. The SD-24 improved on the SD-7 (and SD-9) design by adding a turbocharger to the 567 diesel engine. This innovation enabled significant horsepower increases and addressed reliability issues of earlier models operating at high altitudes.

Builder: Electro Motive Division GM
Year Built: 1951
Model: SD-7
Horsepower: 1500
Length: 60ft 8 in
Width: 10ft 8in
Height: 14ft 1in
Brakes: 24RL
Engine: 16-645CE
Motors: 6 EMD
Trucks: Flexicoil
Description: Diesel-Electric / First SD Series Built
Arrived: 2003
Condition: Complete / unrestored / operational

Read more about the history of this engine in Rail & Wire #258

Photo gallery

Ownership History
1951-1952 – Electro-Motive Division #990
1952-1965 – Southern Pacific #5308
1965-1974 – Southern Pacific #2715
1974-1980 – Southern Pacific #1415
1980-1997 – Southern Pacific #1518
1997-2003 – Union Pacific
2003-present – Illinois Railway Museum, Union, IL

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