Seaboard Coast Line Baldwin VO-660 No. 27 (ex-SAL No. 1202 built 1941) with a local freight passing the station at Waycross, GA, May 1970.
(Photo by Aron Blum © 1991, Parlor Car Enterprises, Hopatcong, NJ, Fair Use, Title 17, Section 107, via W. Lenheim Collection)
BALDWIN VO-660 DIESEL-ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE
The Baldwin VO-660 was a diesel-electric switcher locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works between April, 1939 and May, 1946. The 197,520–203,980 lb (89,600–92,500 kg) units were powered by a six-cylinder diesel engine rated at 660 horsepower (492 kW), and rode on two-axle AAR Type-A switcher trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. 142 examples of this model were built for American railroads, along with the United States Navy. Baldwin replaced the VO-660 with the model DS-4-4-660 in 1946.
New York Central Baldwin VO-660 758 at Muncie, Indiana, May 14, 1961. Photographer: H N Proctor.
(Craig Garver, Public domain, https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalrailartist/50303006026/in/dateposted/)
In the early 1960s the Reading Company sent all 10 of their VO-660s to General Motors Electro-Motive Division to have them rebuilt to SW900 specifications. These locomotives received new frames, cabs, and carbodies, and reused only the trucks and batteries from the VO-660's. Only four intact examples of the VO-660 are known to survive today. One was built as Baldwin 335, the first production VO-660. It was sold by the Altoona Railroaders Memorial Museum to SMS Lines to be repaired and put back into operation. SMS also owns the former Warner 11, which is being restored before being put into service. The others are Pickens Railway No. 2, built in 1946, and Wyandotte Terminal 103, at the Illinois Railway Museum. Those two are inoperable at the present time.
Southern Pacific Baldwin VO660 1021 at Eddystone, Pennsylvania, April, 1941, in a builder photo.
(Craig Garver, Public domain, https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalrailartist/50442633437/)
Units produced
| Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin Locomotive Works (pre-production units) | 1 | 299 | Used as BLW plant switcher |
| Baldwin Locomotive Works (pre-production units) | 1 | 62300 | to Reading 60 |
| Baldwin Locomotive Works (demonstrator) | 1 | 335 | first production VO-660; to Standard Steel Division of Baldwin Locomotive Works 12, to Altoona Railroaders Museum, to SMS Rail Lines, under restoration to active service |
| Baldwin Locomotive Works (demonstrator) | 1 | 336 | to Elgin, Joliet and Eastern 270 |
| Baldwin Locomotive Works (demonstrator) | 1 | 337 | to Central of Georgia Railway |
| Akron and Barberton Belt Railroad | 1 | 25 | |
| American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) | 4 | 1950–1953 | |
| American Steel and Wire Company | 3 | 1, 11, 23-1 | |
| Basic Magnesium, Inc. | 1 | 1000 | |
| Central Railroad of New Jersey | 4 | 1040–1043 | |
| Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad | 1 | 110 | |
| Chicago and North Western Railway | 10 | 1237–1246 | |
| Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road”) | 1 | 1649 | Renumbered 1635, later renumbered 985 |
| Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (“Omaha Road”) | 3 | 58, 59, 68 | |
| Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad | 9 | 66–74 | |
| Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway | 2 | 271, 272 | |
| Francisco Sugar Company, (Cuba) | 1 | 45 | |
| Iowa Ordnance Plant | 1 | 2-100 | to US War Dept 7276 |
| Kansas City Southern Railway | 1 | 1150 | |
| La Salle and Bureau County Railroad | 1 | 6 | |
| Long Island Rail Road | 1 | 403 | |
| Louisville and Nashville Railroad | 4 | 20–23 | |
| Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway | 1 | 600 | Renumbered 60 |
| Minnesota Western Railway | 1 | 1 | to MNS 1 |
| Missouri Pacific Railroad | 4 | 9009, 9010, 9012, 9026 | |
| Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway | 1 | 10 | |
| New Orleans Public Belt Railroad | 3 | 41–43 | |
| New York Central Railroad | 12 | 501–502, 752–761 | 501–502 renumbered 750–751 |
| Northern Pacific Railway | 3 | 128–130 | Renumbered 650–652 |
| Patapsco and Back Rivers Railroad | 3 | 63–65 | Renumbered 301–303 |
| Pennsylvania Railroad | 12 | 5907–5909, 5932–5937, 5941–5943 | |
| Procter and Gamble | 1 | 125 | Used at Port Ivory, Staten Island, NY |
| Reading Company | 10 | 61–70 | |
| St. Louis-San Francisco Railway | 2 | 600–601 | |
| Seaboard Air Line Railroad | 1 | 1202 | |
| Singer Manufacturing Company | 1 | 2 | to Pickens Railway #2, stored out of service on line |
| Southern Pacific Company | 2 | 1021–1022 | |
| Southern Railway | 1 | DS2005 | |
| Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis | 4 | 531–534 | |
| Union Terminal Railway of Memphis (Missouri Pacific Railroad) | 2 | 9090–9091 | |
| United States Navy | 6 | 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 31 | |
| Upper Merion and Plymouth Railroad | 2 | 51–52 | |
| Wabash Railroad | 1 | 200 | |
| Warner Company | 1 | 11 | to New Hope & Ivyland 395, to SMS Rail Lines 11; under restoration |
| Western Maryland Railway | 4 | 101, 103–105 | |
| Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company | 1 | 10 | |
| Wyandotte Terminal Railroad | 3 | 101–103 | 103 preserved at Illinois Railway Museum |
| Youngstown Sheet and Tube | 8 | 600–607 | |
| Total | 143 |
Denver & Rio Grande Western Baldwin VO660 74 at Denver, Colorado, June 25, 1966. Photographer: Bruce Black.
(Craig Garver, https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalrailartist/50353598932/)
De La Vergne Engines
Organized on February 14, 1880 as the De La Vergne Refrigerating Machine Company, and around 1897 the "Refrigerating" was dropped from the company name. In 1917 they were acquired by William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Co. By 1948 The De LaVergne operation was a wholly owned subsidiary of Baldwin Locomotive Works. De LaVergne Machine Co. specialized in refrigeration equipment, gas engines, diesel engines and steam engines.
Northern Pacific Baldwin VO660 651 at St Paul, Minnesota, August 24, 1970. Photographer: Ed Kanak.
(Craig Garver, Public domain, https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalrailartist/50353588251/)
Overview
Type and origin
Power type: Diesel-electric
Builder: Baldwin Locomotive Works
Model: VO-660
Build date: April 1939 – May 1946
Total produced: 142
Specifications
Configuration:
• AAR B-B
Gauge: 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length: 48 ft 0 in (14.63 m)
Locomotive weight: 197,520–203,980 lb (89,600–92,500 kg)
Prime mover: De La Verne VO
RPM range: 625 rpm max.
Engine type: Straight-6 Four-stroke diesel
Aspiration Normally aspirated, solid fuel injection
Displacement 1,979 cu in (32.43 L) per cylinder
11,874 cu in (194.58 L) total
Generator DC generator
Traction motors DC traction motors
Cylinders 6
Cylinder size 12.75 in × 15.5 in (324 mm × 394 mm)
Transmission Electric
Loco brake Straight air
Train brakes Air
Performance figures
Power output 660 hp (490 kW)
Tractive effort 49,380–50,995 lbf (219.65–226.84 kN)
Career
Locale North America, Cuba
Minneapolis Northfield & Southern Baldwin VO660 60 at Golden Valley, Minnesota, September 6, 1966. Photographer: Bruce Black.
(Craig Garver, Public domain, https://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalrailartist/50353827477/)