EMD E6

EMD E6

300px Rock Island E6A #630, operated by Midland Railway, at Baldwin City, Kansas on November 28, 2004

Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) Model E6 Build date November 1939 – September 1942 Total produced 91 A units, 26 B units

Specifications AAR wheel arr A1A-A1A Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Trucks EMD Blomberg A-1-A passenger Wheel diameter 36 in (914 mm) Minimum curve 23° (250.79 ft or 76.44 m radius) Wheelbase 57 ft 1 in (17.40 m) Length 70 ft 4 in (21.44 m) over coupler pulling faces Width 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m) Height 14 ft 10 in (4.52 m)r Loco weight 311,300 lb (141,200 kg) Prime mover (2) EMD 567 RPM range 800 Engine type V12 Two-stroke diesel Aspiration Roots-type supercharger Displacement 6,804 cu in (111.50 L) each Generator (2) EMD D-4 Traction motors (4) EMD D-7 Cylinders (2) 12

Performance figures Power output 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) total

Career Disposition Two preserved, remainder scrapped

The EMD E6 was a 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A, passenger train locomotive manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation, and its corporate successor, General Motors Electro-Motive Division, of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, or E6A, was manufactured from November, 1939 to September, 1942, and 91 were produced. The booster version, or E6B, was manufactured from April, 1940 to February, 1942, and 26 were produced. The 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW) was achieved by putting two 1,000-horsepower (750 kW), 12-cylinder, model 567 engines in the engine compartment. Each engine drove its own electrical generator to power the traction motors. The E6 was the seventh model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.

Compared with passenger locomotives made later by EMD, the noses of the E3, E4, E5,and E6 cab units had pronounced slants when viewed from the side. Therefore, these four models have been nicknamed "slant nose" units. Later E models had the "bulldog nose" of the F series.

One interesting E6 variant custom-produced for the Missouri Pacific was the model EMC AA. This was a motorcar-style unit which had only one prime mover and 1,000 horsepower (750 kW), and substituted a baggage compartment where the other diesel V-12 would have been.

Original owners

Railroad	Quantity A units	Quantity B units	Road numbers A units	Road numbers B units	Notes
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)	1	—	1940	—	to Seaboard Air Line 3014
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad	22	5	502–523	750–754	ACL 501, often identified as an E6A, was built as an E3A but wrecked before delivery and rebuilt by EMC as an E6A.
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway	4	3	12–15	12A, 13A, 15A
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	8	7	52, 57–63	57x–63x
Chicago and North Western Railway	4	—	5005A,B, 5006A,B	—
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	5	—	627–631	—
Florida East Coast Railway	3	1	1003–1005	1051
Illinois Central Railroad	5	—	4000–4004	—
Kansas City Southern Railway	2	—	4, 5	—
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	16	—	450A,B–457A,B	—
Milwaukee Road	2	—	15A,B	—
Missouri Pacific Railroad	2	2	7002–7003	7002B–7003B
Seaboard Air Line Railroad	2	—	3015–3016	—	EMD Demonstrator 1940 became SAL 3014
Southern Railway	7	4	2800–2802 2900–2903	2900B–2903B
Union Pacific Railroad	6	—	7M1A, 7M2A, 8M1A, 8M2A, 9M1A, 9M2A	—
UP-C&NW joint City of Los Angeles	1	2	LA-4	LA-5, LA-6
UP-SP-C&NW joint City of San Francisco	1	2	SF-4	SF-5, SF-6
Total	91	26

Surviving units

Three E6s survive today. One was operated by the Midland Railway, in Baldwin City, Kansas but has since been sold and may become part of a future museum in Manly, Iowa or possibly be restored to operation. It is ex-Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad E6A #630.

Another E6 is located at the Kentucky Railway Museum, in New Haven, Kentucky. It is ex-Louisville and Nashville E6A #770, built as L&N 450B. This unit is for display only, as it came to the museum without a majority of its internal parts.

The final E6, Atlantic Coast Line 501, was built as an E3, wrecked, and rebuilt as an E6. ACL 501 has been at or near operational status for much of its life. After retirement from regular service, the unit was restored to purple Champion streamliner colors and run on midwest fan trips by owner Glenn Monhart. After Mr. Monhart's death, the unit found a home in Spencer, North Carolina, at their prominent railroad museum. This was the only E6 present at "Streamliners at Spencer", the largest assemblage of E-units since retirement from regular service in Chicago around 1993.

See also

• List of GM-EMD locomotives

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Kentucky Railway Museum motive power