Baldwin S-12
Diesel-electric switcher locomotive
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The Baldwin S-12 or BLH S12 is a 1,200-horsepower (890 kW) diesel-electric switcher locomotive. Powered by a turbocharged 6-cylinder version of the 606A diesel prime mover, S12s were known for their "lugging" power, despite being temperamental. Like most Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton switchers, the S12 had AAR Type-A switcher trucks in a B-B wheel arrangement. 451 units were built between 1951 and 1956, when BLH left the locomotive market.
| Baldwin S12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A preserved S-12 at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1000: January 1951 – November 1951
| Balwin DS-4-4-660 / DS-4-4-1000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous models
Baldwin made a number of switchers with similar dimensions and body styles. The first body style, used in VO models, had a slightly pointed nose with a round radiator opening. The second and third body style, almost indistinguishable and used interchangeably, had a flat nose and rectangular radiator opening. Various exhaust stacks were used, and are not an effective spotting feature, except that turbocharged models always had one large stack offset to the side.
The VO-660 was built between April 1939 and May 1946. It was powered by a naturally aspirated six cylinder engine rated at 600-horsepower (450 kW). 142 were built. Baldwin replaced the VO-660 with the model DS-4-4-660 in 1946.
The VO-1000 was built between January 1939 and December 1946. It was powered by a naturally aspirated eight cylinder engine rated at 1,000-horsepower (750 kW). Some had the Batz truck originally developed by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway as a leading truck for steam locomotives. 548 VO-1000s were built.
The DS-4-4-660 was built between 1946 and 1949. It replaced the 600-horsepower (450 kW) VO-660 as the low power companion to the DS-4-4-1000 models. 139 were built.
The DS-4-4-1000 was a 1,000-horsepower (750 kW) model built between 1946 and 1951. The first units (56 locomotives) were powered by an 8-cylinder normally aspirated prime mover, but from 1948 a change was made to a 6-cylinder turbocharged engine. A total of 502 were built.
Original buyers
Surviving units
Many S-12s survive today, both in revenue service and at museums and tourist operations.
Revenue Service
- SMS Lines owns 9 S-12's and operates #301 at the Penn Warner industrial park in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, as well as #304 on the Woodstown Central in Salem County, New Jersey. 7 others are in storage or awaiting restoration.
- The US Navy operates two S-12's (nos. 65-00367 and 65-00368) at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County, New Jersey[1]
Preservation
- Baldwin Locomotive Works #1200 is preserved at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.[2]
- Erie Mining #7243 is preserved at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, Minnesota.[3]
- Nevada Northern #802 is stored at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum in Ely, Nevada.[4] It was built in 1952 by Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton for New York Central as #9313, becoming Penn Central #8097. It was sold to Kennecott Copper Corporation in 1969 and used as a switcher at the McGill smelter as #802 and later donated to the museum.
- Patapsco & Back Rivers #335 (converted from a DS-4-4-1000) is preserved as Amherst Industries #99 at the Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, Indiana.[5]
- Patapsco & Back Rivers #346 is preserved at the Whitewater Valley Railroad in Connersville, Indiana.[6]
- Southern Pacific #1550 is stored awaiting restoration at the Southern California Railway Museum in Perris, California.[7]
