SW1 567U to 567V transition

EMC's new 567 engine development in later 1939 was the 567V. Historians have not written much about this change from the previous 567U, so little is known of what units had which engines. Perhaps the best explanation of the difference between the 567U and the 567V is written by Preston Cook. See pages 28-29 of the Summer 2012 issue of Classic Trains. Cook writes about the change in the exhaust riser well between the cylinder banks. The 567 U deck was cast steel, the 567 V deck was welded steel. The U and the V described the shape of the exhaust riser well. EMD Engineer Gene Kettering writes about these differences between the 567 U and 567 V in his 1951 paper presented to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. See pages 55-58 as hosted on Don Strack's Utah Rails website: https://utahrails.net/pdf/EMD_567_Histo ... t_1951.pdf

Now specifically about EMC's SW1. The last 6-567 U deck engines were likely installed in order E284 for Illinois Central 9014-9020. Deliveries of this order spanned December 1939 and January 1940. Another pair of SW1s delivered to Great Lakes Steel as #11-12 in September 1940 on order E349 may have been built during this same time period. Both the Illinois Central and Great Lakes Steel SW1s had the same wiring diagram #8048125. That number appears to be an EMC standard design wiring diagram for SW1s. The first production SW1 Fort Worth Belt #1 had the same wiring diagram as did many other early SW1s. The new "standard" wiring diagram started with Elgin, Joliet & Eastern's order E291 in January and February 1940. The five EJ&E SW1s had wiring diagram #8049492, which was used in many following SW1s orders. It would appear likely that the change in engine from 6-567U to 6-567V led to an updated wiring diagram for the SW1.

There are still many unknowns in this 567U to 567V changeover. Were there previous demonstrators of the 567V? The Great Lakes Steel SW1s appear to have both been assembled in later 1939 and not sold for nearly a year. More later on 12-567U and 12-567Vs used in the EMC switchers and E units of the time.

Ed in Kentucky

On page 58 of Gene Kettering's presentation he talks about some 600 567Us being built. My question would be how many were installed in locomotives? It appears that marine installations were another area where these early 567s were used. See https://vintagedieseldesign.com/tag/emc/

Ed in Kentucky

Preston Cook also mentions that marine and stationary 567Us were built. He writes about an eight cylinder version that was never installed in a locomotive. Details are scant about the 567Us and where they were installed. See http://www.rypn.org/articles/layout/060 ... efault.htm

Ed in Kentucky

This is a hard thing to document exactly, as per the EMD and Cleveland records I have, they did not differentiate between 567V and 567U, as everything pre "A block", is simply recorded as a straight "567", this holds true for manuals as well.

I think they only started stamping them with U or V if they were upgraded to C liners, ala 567VC. I would probably go out on a limb to say none of the 567U engines were upgraded, but don't quote me on that.

Dauntless I've read that the 567V was a stronger design than the 567U. I got in to the U and V thing with Don Strack and asked him about whether UP NW2 #1000 was an engine demonstrator. All 10 of the UP NW2s from order E308 have the same wiring diagram, but the #1000 was built in October 1939, the other nine were built in May 1940. The 1000 has a newer block number than the other nine indicating that the earlier block was changed out. Don sent me a folio sheet of the early UP NW2s and for the engine it was a 567. You are right that is how the 567 was known.

Ed in Kentucky

There is an engine anomaly in Milwaukee's EMC order E298 for a dozen SW1s. These SW1s were built between March and April of 1940. The road numbers are 1613-1624. All have the same wiring diagram 8049492. Eleven of the 567 blocks range in serial from 948-959, the exception is the block installed in unit 1616 which is 567 block #610. That's either a typo or an older 567 block. For comparison purposes the 567 block installed in Inland Steel #51, the first SW1, is block #632. The 567 blocks installed in KCS E3A #1 are 665 and 666. This was the original EMC demonstrator #822 built in September 1938. The SAL E4s have 567 block numbers going back to the mid to upper 620s with a build date of October 1938. So the Milwaukee 567 block installed in #1616 has a lower number than any of the early E units and the first SW1.


Ed in Kentucky

Is it possible that EMD built X number of engines in anticipation of orders, but installed them without regard to their serial numbers in relationship to locomotives serial numbers>

There is a pattern to the progression of EMC/EMD serials and engine serials. You can find groups of engine serials in progressively increasing numbering throughout production. Starting in 1950 this became easier to track because each new block was assigned a number starting with the year it was built. Engines were assigned a suffix for the month they were built. Letters A through M were assigned, with the letter "I" not being used because it looked like the number 1. An example of 1950 block number would be Pennsylvania SW1 #9396 was assigned block #50G11305. That SW1 was built in July 1950 and the block was too.

The building of additional engine blocks in advance of orders may have happened, but the cost would have been born by the manufacturer until that extra inventory could be matched up with orders. This may be an excellent area of future research. There apparently may have been some excess at the end of WW2 with the 12-567As and nine or 10 16-567Bs installed in F2As date back to late 1945.

Ed in Kentucky

During the war EMD may have been lacking supplies at different times. The out of sequence serial numbers seem to have occurred then. Maybe blocks were built as supplies of material became available. Maybe with war contracts an order had to be put on hold for a spell. X number of 567s for LSTs may, for example have been built in the interim. There is the gap in locomotive block numbers.

Serial numbers...
During WW II a number of companies (at, I assume, government request) did funny things with serial numbers: the idea was that if the Germans (or Japanese) captured American equipment, they could look at the serial numbers and -- IF serial numbers were assigned in a continuous series -- use statistical methods to estimate total U.S. production. There are some gaps in the GE locomotive serial number series due to this (hard to imagine the Germans capturing enough U.S. locomotives to make this an issue, but I guess if you adopt a general policy of gapifying serial numbers...), and some EMD products (think: 567 engines in LSTs) were used close enough to the front line to be in danger of capture. Is it possible that this accounts for some of the serial number anomalies?

SSW921 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 14, 2022 2:10 pm There is an engine anomaly in Milwaukee's EMC order E298 for a dozen SW1s. These SW1s were built between March and April of 1940. The road numbers are 1613-1624. All have the same wiring diagram 8049492. Eleven of the 567 blocks range in serial from 948-959, the exception is the block installed in unit 1616 which is 567 block #610. That's either a typo or an older 567 block. For comparison purposes the 567 block installed in Inland Steel #51, the first SW1, is block #632. The 567 blocks installed in KCS E3A #1 are 665 and 666. This was the original EMC demonstrator #822 built in September 1938. The SAL E4s have 567 block numbers going back to the mid to upper 620s with a build date of October 1938. So the Milwaukee 567 block installed in #1616 has a lower number than any of the early E units and the first SW1.


Ed in Kentucky

Is it possible that Milwaukee# 1616 was actually the first SW1 built? If the block number is correct it may have been built in the Summer of 1938. That certainly would fit the need to get a six cylinder 567 out testing as a shop switcher or around a local railroad. It stands to reason that you would try out the six cylinder before fielding the 12 cylinder in the E3 demonstrator and Seaboard E4s. And that the electrical wiring was upgraded to the current diagram for sale to the Milwaukee so that all of order E-298 would have the same wiring and equipment.

Ed in Kentucky