#2991
Baldwin S-12
🇺🇸 United States ·built by Baldwin Locomotive Works· from 1951· model of 451 American 1200-hp diesel switching locomotives
_at_the_Elizabeth%2C_NJ_Shops_on_November_8%2C_1969_(22528677335).jpg)
_at_Pittston%2C_PA_yard_on_June_29%2C_1969_(22284781938).jpg)
5 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. RR92.2 No. 1200 Front Side: Photo by and (c)2015 Derek Ramsey ( Ram-Man )· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 2. 0390 Strasburg - Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania: Klaus Nahr· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 3. Central of New Jersey 1058 (Baldwin S12) at the Elizabeth, NJ Shops on November 8, 1969 (22528677335): railfan 44· Public domain
- 4. Lehigh Valley 240 (Baldwin S-12) at Pittston, PA yard on June 29, 1969 (22284781938): railfan 44· Public domain
- 5. S12 prime mover 151203-F-EI321-025: (U.S. Air Force photo/Alex R. Lloyd)· Public domain
what is it?
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.
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 75 years ago, in 1951.
- 895 kW is about 11 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 18 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 14.6 m long: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1951–1956
- status
- preserved
- number built
- 451
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Baldwin Locomotive Works
- top speed
- 97 km/h
- power
- 895 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Bo'Bo'
- length
- 14.6 m
- weight
- 109 t
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q4850593, Wikipedia: Baldwin S-12 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.