In the late 1950's and early 1960's EMD offered to "rebuild" old switchers to SW-900 specifications. However, little of the original locomotive remained, usually, just the frame and the trucks. Conrail's 32 SW-900M's were inherited from the Reading (21) and the Lehigh Valley (11). Although most units were retired by the late 1980s, a handful of the former Reading units lasted through the early 1990s.
| |
Ex-LV sw900m 8655 in a dead line in the ash pit at Bethlehem Engine Terminal March 31, 1983. 8655 was rebuilt from a pre-war NW-1. |
| |
Doing their bit SW900M's 8710 and 8709 (RDG, 09/61) mid lash-up on a Ballast Train at Fairlawn, Pa. May 6,1991. Only the trucks remain of the pre-war Baldwin VO-660's that they were "rebuilt" from. |