Railroaders' Nostalgia > Conrail SW8 with 567B Engine — Information Needed

Hello all:

I’m looking for information in regards to EMD SW8’s with the 567B engine. In particular this question is going to relate to the former New York Central SW8’s that were acquired by Conrail.

I’m posting to this thread as it’s been suggested there is a EMD fellow on here who might have info.

I’m involved in a museum project that is in the process of acquiring an EMD SW8. I’ll be happy to discuss this project more later, as I think many will be interested in it.

This SW8 was built in February 1953 for the New York Central as part of order #4144 and carries serial number 16195. It was NYC #9620 and became Penn Central #8620 and subsequently Conrail #8620.

After Conrail, the locomotive has been in numerous industrial switching operations in Eastern Canada.

It was built with a 567B engine. We understand that Conrail did significant upgrading to their SW8’s and I’m wondering if anyone knows to what extent did Conrail rebuild the prime movers in these units and did they receive the conversion to 567BC specifications?

I’m including a photo of the engine that shows its EMD tag and serial number. Below that tag is a stamping that reads: C0-2-81 J.L.S.

I would assume the 2-81 means February 1981 and the J.L.S stands for Juniata Locomotive Shop? I have no idea what the C0 means, but I’m wondering if the C at the beginning of the stamping is in some way referring to 567C specifications?

The locomotive did receive other major upgrades from Conrail as it’s equipped with a 26L brake and MU capability was added. We however, can’t find any info (yet) on the extent of the engine overhaul it likely received as part of this upgrading nor what the work in 1981 by Juniata Locomotive Shop would have involved.

The locomotive is in good mechanical condition based on very preliminary inspections so far, but myself and others have not yet been able to see it as it’s on the other side of the country, so I don’t know if the original 567B was upgraded to C specs or not.

My background is with the Canadian Pacific Railway as a locomotive engineer and conductor for 35 years and I know most CP units that were a 567B were changed over to BC specs when they got rebuilt.

It’s sister locomotive the 8619 is in service with the Berkshire Scenic Railway in Massachusetts. 

Any information anyone has or insight they can provide would be much appreciated.

Best regards,
Jim
E&N Division, of the Canadian Railroad Historical Association

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Could C0 or CO mean "Complete Overhaul"? And I agree that it just might have been at Juniata shops. If it WAS complete it could well have included upgrades to C spec but would not know. 567's were pretty well obsoleted ages ago, and all sorts of things were done to improve them in various ways such as reliability, horsepower, economy and so on. 

I can't vouch for the accuracy, but the Wikipedia page on the 567 notes that a conversion from a B to a BC "eliminates the engine's water deck and substitutes a water manifold."  Perhaps that gives you a visual clue to look for.
EMD 567

Could CO also mean Change Out, or a block swap? That’s a cheap alternative to Complete Overhaul, and also explains the 1950 block in the 1953 locomotive.

Posted from iPhone

With a "B" engine the FIRST upgrade youn do is the "BC" conversion to cure the leaking of coolant into the crankcase. It is easy to spot by the water jumpers inside the handhole covers.

Dick Samuels
Oregon Pacific Railroad

At this point, its really not worth it to do a BC upgrade when there are C blocks out there that can be used in place, not to mention you can no longer get the part kit to do it anymore.   There was an extensive discussion covering this on another board recently.