EMD SW600 Phase Guide and Builder List
EMD's SW600 was the six-hundred horsepower successor to the SW1. Three new models were introduced in 1954 - the SW600, SW900, and SW1200. EMD built 1,056 of their 1200-horsepower SW1200 model. The SW900, at 900 horsepower, sold reasonably well at 372. The customer base for that model was industry and a few Class I roads with light-duty branch line applications. But the little SW600? Just 15 units for 13 different customers with no repeat orders. Six hundred horsepower units were a niche market by this time. Long gone were the robust sales of the SW1. Customers were few, mostly oil refiners, chemical plants, coal-fired electrical power plants, and rarely, a steel producer. The only Class I customer was Chicago & North Western, buying just two units. By the time the 645-powered switchers were introduced, EMD could no longer justify including a six-hundred horsepower model because the margins were too low. Here's a link to the .pdf.