Southwestern Railroad (SW)

Southwestern Railroad (SW) 4227 was sitting idle and unused on the Cimarron Valley Railroad (CVR) in Satanta, KS on Friday, June 28, 2019.

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According to Wikipedia, The Southwestern Railroad (reporting mark SW) is a Class III railroad operating since 1990, and consisted of two unconnected railroad sections in New Mexico, with no shared functions. These and a third section in the Texas panhandle and Oklahoma, now closed, all operated separately. Since January 2017, only the Whitewater Division is operated by Southwestern.

Steve Sloan's Trains : Cimarron Valley Railroad (CVR) : Southwestern Railroad (SW)

Southwestern Railroad (SW)

Photos

The Southwestern Railroad (SW) is owned by the Western Group, headquartered in Ogden Utah. The Cimarron Valley Railroad (CVR) is a sister railroad and many SW locomotives run, or have run, on the CVR.

Click on the following links to see pictures related to Southwestern Railroad. GECX leasers are also in many of my shots taken on the SW:

SW 2602, EMD/Paducah GP26

According to good sources SW 2602 was built in 1963 by EMD as GM&O GP30 514 a model GP30, builders number 27918. It became GP26 ICG 2602 then NREX 2602, then SW 2602.

IC 2601 and 2602, and were originally GM&O 502 and 514. They were to be the initial rebuilds of a program with GP30's similar to the prior Paducah rebuilds of other models. The program was discontinued for a variety of reasons after only two rebuilds were completed.

According to CVR engineer Dru Later (in 2008):

"They retained their 567 power plants, they have GE 752A traction motors and those rough riding ALCO trucks. They are tremendous pullers, and they are nicknamed the Clydesdales. These were actually demonstrators that Paducah produced to show the Southern Railway, who they were actually built for, was to go up against the EMD GP49 I believe. But the Southern decided to go with the EMD's and the 26's never made it to them. The units then went to NREX for leasing and then the Southwestern came in and bought them."

Chuck Zeiler offered this explanation from Dan Kohlberg:
"ICG's two GP26's were built in March and April of 1981. Gulf Mobile & Ohio GP30's 502 and 514 were rebuilt as ICG 2601 and 2602. Among the laundry list of changes (internal and external), they received the standard Paducah spartan cab along with a Paducah 88 inch nose. ICG left the turbocharger and the 2250 hp rating. The Paducah/ICG sales literature, however, listed the GP26 model as 2600 hp. Why? Well, consider what the original 'donor' locomotive to become a GP26 was supposed to be. ICG was trying to sell this to railroads with aging GP35 fleets. Paducah had intended to use a 2500 hp GP35 as the starting point, and upping the horsepower another 100... hence the 26 designation (and the carbody changes, in my opinion). ICG sorta 'faked' it with the GP30's. Since the GP26 program never made it beyond two locomotives, it is hard to speculate how the GP30 vs. GP35 rebuilds might have been classified, had the ICG continued to rebuild the ex-GM&O (or anyone else's) 30/35 fleet. Basically, the GP26 was ICG/Paducah's answer to a railroad buying a GP39-2 or GP39X new from EMD. (Remember, the 2600hp GP39Xs showed up on the SOU in late 1980) Bad timing for the ICG by about seven years. VMV/MK/EMD implemented a similar GP30/35 rebuild program for the BN starting in 1988."

SW 2602 and others sitting at Satanta, KS
Southwestern Railroad (SW) 2602 was sitting idle and unused on the Cimarron Valley Railroad (CVR) in Satanta, KS on Friday, June 28, 2019.

SW 4227, EMD GP30

According to good sources SW 4227 was built in 1963 by EMD as C&O 3037 a model GP30, builders number 28513. It became CSX 4227 then SW 4227.
SW 4227 and others sitting at Satanta, KS
Southwestern Railroad (SW) 4227 was sitting idle and unused on the Cimarron Valley Railroad (CVR) in Satanta, KS on Friday, June 28, 2019.

SW 5108, EMD SD50

SW 5108 is an EMD SD50. Reportedly SW 5108 was built in 1985 by EMD as CNW SD50 7023, builders number 847049-24. It became UP 5083, then NREX 5083, then WAMX 5108, finally becoming SW 5108.

SW 5108 sitting in Satanta
Southwestern Railroad (SW) 5108 was sitting idle and unused in Satanta, KS on the Cimarron Valley Railroad (CVR) on Friday, June 28, 2019.

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