Featured Collection

Beautiful Baldwins

First to the Road Switcher Race then First to Go

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book typewriter iesel locomotives have finite life expectancies, and one rule of thumb for first-generation diesels employed in road freight duty called for 15 years of economical service. Victims of wrecks and fires excepted, a locomotive retired much before 15 years had almost certainly not overwhelmed its owner with its virtues. Twenty years or more in service was a creditable showing, and 30 years an extraordinary show of longevity.

DRS-series heavy road-switchers [from Baldwin] fell into all these categories. Happily, the first -- Columbus & Greenville 601 -- fell into the latter. For more than 35 years C&G 601 labored on the Delta Route, surviving even its owner's brief extinction. 601 remained in service into the fall of 1983 and is slated for permanent display by the railroad at Columbus, Mississippi.

Diesels from Eddystone: The Story of Baldwin Diesel Locomotives

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Baldwin Road Switcher Models and Production Totals

Model	Produced	Totals	Trucks	Engine	Output
DRS-6-4-1500	1946-52	91	A1A-A1A	608SC	1500 hp
DRS-6-6-1500	1948-50	83	C-C	608SC	1500 hp
DRS-6-4-1000	1948-49	20 Algeria	A1A-A1A	606SC	1000 hp
DRS-6-4-750	1949	1 Morocco	A1A-A1A	606NA	750 hp
DRS-4-4-1500	1947-50	35	B-B	608SC	1500 hp
DRS-4-4-1000	1948-50	9 USA, 13 Canada	B-B	606SC	1000 hp
RS-12	1951-56	50	B-B	606A	1200 hp
AS-416	1950-55	25	A1A-A1A	608A	1600 hp
As-616	1950-54	221	C-C	608A	1600 hp
AS-16	1950-55	127	B-B	608A	1600 hp

All roster shots on this page are from our collection unless otherwise indicated

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Close Up — DRS 6-4-1500

The DRS-6-4-1500 model was Baldwin's first road switcher type to be produced, beginning in 1946. Rated at 1,500 horsepower, these units rode on three-axle trucks with an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement: two powered axles with an idler axle in between to spread out the locomotive's weight on lighter rail. Selling only 29 units on the domestic market, the model was superseded in Baldwin's catalog by the AS-416 in 1950. However, export orders we produced until 1952, for a total of 91 total units.

Wikipedia

The Columbus & Greenville's first order of five of these units turned out to be historic in the world of diesel-electric locomotion, in that nos. 601 to 605 were the first Baldwin road switchers produced for a stateside customer and the first to be put in operation anywhere. #601 was shipped to the Mississippi shortline first, unpainted and unlettered, followed by sisters #602 and #603 two months later.