#2631

EMD NW2

🇺🇸 United States ·built by General Motors Diesel· from 1939· Switcher locomotive

5 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences

1. Midland Kansas locomotive 524: Russell Meier· CC BY-SA 3.0
2. NJI&I -2 At Roundhouse-South Bend IN-April 1976: ChicagoAreaTom· CC BY-SA 4.0
3. Chicago and Eastern Illinois NW2 125 in Chicago Heights, IL on March 31, 1964 (25824006616): railfan 44· Public domain
4. MDRY 524 (NW2) - October 2016: Tyler Silvest· CC BY 2.0
5. Milwaukee Road MILW 667 (NW2) (10568002643): Gary Todd from Xinzheng, China· CC0

what is it?

The EMD NW2 is a 1,000 hp (750 kW), B-B switcher locomotive manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. From February 1939 to December 1949, EMD produced 1,145 NW2s: 1,121 for U.S. and 24 for Canadian railroads. Starting in late 1948, the NW2s were manufactured in EMD's Plant #3 in Cleveland, Ohio.

base stats

power 746 kWpower output
built 1,145made in total

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 87 years ago, in 1939.
746 kW is about 9 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: 1939–1949
number built: 1,145
kind: Diesel–electric
traction: diesel
origin: 🇺🇸 United States
builders: General Motors, Electro-Motive Diesel
top speed: —
power: 746 kW
gauge: 1,435 mm standard gauge
wheel arrangement: B-B

From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: Wikidata Q5323454, Wikipedia: EMD NW2 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.