Baldwin S-8

S8
Type and origin Power type Diesel–electric Builder Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Model S8 Build date March 1951 – September 1954 Total produced 54, plus 9 calf units
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR B-B  • UIC B′B′ Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Prime mover 606 RPM range 625 rpm maximum Engine type Straight-6 Four-stroke diesel Aspiration Naturally aspirated, solid injection Displacement 1,979 cu in (32.43 L) per cylinder 11,874 cu in (194.58 L) total Generator Westinghouse 480F Traction motors Westinghouse 362D (4) Cylinders 6 Cylinder size 12+3⁄4 in × 15+1⁄2 in (324 mm × 394 mm) Transmission Electric Gear ratio 16:76 Loco brake Air Train brakes Air Couplers AAR Type E knuckle
Performance figures Maximum speed 45 mph (72 km/h) Power output 875 hp (652 kW) (marketed as 800 hp)
Career Locale United States and Cuba Disposition Two preserved, remainder scrapped

The BLH S8 was an 875-horsepower (652 kW) diesel–electric switcher locomotive. The Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation produced a total of 63 units (61 for United States railroads and 2 for use in Cuba) between 1951 and 1953. Of these, nine were calf units built for Oliver Iron Mining Company in Minnesota. A tenth calf had been built for them on order, but when delivery was refused, it was fitted with a cab, and converted to a regular S8.

Original owners

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
American Rolling Mill Company	3	1151, 1152, 1201
Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad	1	102
La Salle and Bureau County Railroad	1	8
McCloud Railway	1	31	Built with a single stack and space for a turbocharger for later conversion to a S-12, so is factored into the numbers of (and considered to be) an S-12
Medford Corporation, (Medford, Oregon)	1	8	Only Baldwin switcher built with dynamic brakes
New Orleans Public Belt Railroad	2	50, 51
Oliver Iron Mining Company	9	1200A–1206A, 1214A, 1215A	"Cow" units
	9	1200B–1206B, 1214B, 1215B	"Calf" units
Pennsylvania Railroad	6	8994–8999
Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines	1	6006
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	5	802–806
Sharon Steel Corporation	8	3–10
Sloss-Sheffield Steel	4	33–36
United Railways of Havana, Cuba	2	8001, 8002
US Pipe and Foundry	1	37	Build as "calf"; fitted with cab before sale to USP&F
US Steel	1	13
Weyerhaeuser Company	2	103, 105
Youngstown Sheet and Tube	7	703, 800–805
Totals	54	A units
	9	B units

Preservation

Only two intact examples of the S-8 are known to survive today.

• Medford Corp. #8 is preserved by the Southern Oregon Railway Historical Society in Medford, Oregon.

• US Pipe & Foundry #37 is preserved as Jefferson Warrior #37 at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera, Alabama.

References

• Kirkland, John F. (November 1994). The Diesel Builders volume 3: Baldwin Locomotive Works. Pasadena, California: Interurban Press. ISBN 0-916374-93-9.

External links

• Baldwin S-8
• Preserved Baldwin and Lima Locomotives
• S-8 — Original Owners