what is it?
The EMD GM6W diesel–electric locomotive was introduced by Electro-Motive Diesel as an export model switcher in 1960. The prototype unit spent its entire life at the General Motors LaGrange, Illinois, plant. It wound up life at the Pielet Brothers Scrap yard next to EMD's plant and was eventually scrapped.
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 66 years ago, in 1960.
- 447 kW is about 5 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1960
- number built
- —
- kind
- Diesel–electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Electro-Motive Diesel
- top speed
- —
- power
- 447 kW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- 6w
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5323422, Wikipedia: EMD GM6W (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.