HAMILTON, Ontario — After 68 years of service, National Steel Car’s venerable GE centercab switchers will soon be replaced by former Korail EMD SW1001s from National Railway Equipment.
Freight car manufacturer National Steel Car has received three locomotives. Delivered as NREX 2109, 2114, and 2118, and are now numbered 8504, 8604, and 8704, all three are former Korea Railroad Corp. units built in 1969 repatriated from overseas, painted, tarped, and shipped from NRE in Paducah, Ky., in a primer-like white color. EMD locomotives played a key part in the rebuilding of the South Korean rail system following the Korean War [see “US diesel locomotives in South Korea,” Trains.com, Nov. 16, 2022].
On Dec. 1, the three SW1001s were outside the NSC plant being prepared to enter service, which reportedly will happen later this month. Currently serving the plant are two GE 50-ton switchers acquired new in 1954, numbered 11 and 12. A third unit, 45-ton GE switcher No. 10, has been out of service over 10 years and has been set aside for parts. Train crews at the plant say delivery of large National Steel car decals is imminent; they will be applied before the EMD locomotives begin replacing the GEs.
The US Army SW 8’s helped the Korean Railway through the war, as operated by the 712th and 724th Railway Operating Battalions, US Army Transportation Corps.
The SW 1001’s arrived in 1969, 16 years after the truce was signed. I rode behind one on a mixed train from Jochiwon to Jechon. This was a branch line connecting main lines. KNR had EMD SW-8’s (US Army owned), SD-18’s, SDP-28’s and SDP-38’s as well as export models. By 1969, Hyundai had gotten a license to build EMD export models.
Thank you for the info Philip.