The GMDH1 diesel-hydraulic locomotives led a short life with one staying near their birthplace of London, Ontario.
Diesel-hydraulic railroad locomotives are just what they say they are: diesel engines connected to a hydraulic transmission via the same principle as you would in your automobile. They can be found in various parts of the world in anything from smaller industrial units to heavy-duty mainline haulers.
In the U.S. they are few and far between, but examples that made it past the drawing board included Baldwin’s RP210, built to power a lightweight passenger train set; and Krauss-Maffei’s 4,000-hp cab and hood units, imported from Germany by Southern Pacific and Denver & Rio Grande Western. American manufacturer Alco introduced a 4,300-hp road-switcher called the C643DH. SP purchased the only three built.
While the major builders were looking at hydraulic propulsion primarily for mainline high-dollar locomotives, EMD’s Canadian subsidiary General Motors Diesel of Canada, was looking at ways to market the design for smaller applications. Thus, the GMDH1 was born.
Looking like something that would be right at home in the 1960’s futuristic cartoon show The Jetsons, the GMDH1 looked anything but functional. Looking like Andy Warhol decorated a GE 44-tonner, GMD produced four of the little creatures, the first two equipped with Detroit Diesel 110 diesel engines producing a combined 600 hp. Production ran from December 1955 to to October 1959. The first, No. 1001, hung around GMD’s London (Ontario) plant as the company’s switcher. It was eventually retired and is now in the hands of a private collector. The second became a demonstrator, wandering as far away as Brazil before it was ultimately cut up.
A few years later, another pair was built, this time with Detroit Diesel 71 engines churning out 800 hp. The first of these became a true boomer and operated on numerous industrial operations in Canada and the U.S. It’s still intact and was last reported as the property of a Canadian oil company. The fourth became the property of a construction company and worked the majority of its service life in Pakistan.
With a history of longevity, if not repeat orders, the four proved to the builder the soundness of the hydraulic drive. But, alas, this accomplishment was only visible in hindsight, keeping the model as a low-production footnote to history.
The original (1001) still exists, not in a private collection, but at The Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa. It was restored to original condition by Al Howlett, of London, ON.
Very glad to know it’s preserved operational, Kerry!
A single-ended (endcab) version of this unit was also built, called the GMDH-3. I can’t remember how many and if they still survive, though. I bet these things sounded awesome with those two-stroke Detroits in them…essentially the ‘little brothers’ to the big EMD engines.
It definitely does still exist and is preserved at the the Southern Michigan Railroad Society in Clinton, Mi. There are videos on YouTube of it in operation.