A locomotive which changed the motive power picture in the United States was introduced to the world in the summer of 1958, when EMD's SD-24 #5579 rolled out of the La Grange plant and headed West. The new unit was a 2400 horsepower giant riding on 6-wheel trucks-and painted in Southern Pacific grey and crimson. It looked much like previous SD-7's and SD-9's except for a bulge on the side-housing blowers and roof-mounted air tanks. Its high short nose was in keeping with standard practice of the time. But the turbo supercharger whine which it introduced was to become the sound of the modern locomotive.
Fig 1 SD-24 High Nose from the
author’s brass collection
The summer of 1959 saw the new locomotives being purchased by the railroads which were to become the principal buyers of the 224 SD-24's built- Santa Fe, Union Pacific, Southern and Burlington. Some had the high nose of the original demonstrator but most had the low nose which had been introduced on some SP GP-9's a few years before, and which was first offered as an option on the SD-24's. Now it is almost universal.
Fig 2 SD-24 Low Nose from the author’s brass collection
But BED was not through with Southern Pacific. In l960 it built three more demonstrators, numbers 7200-7202, which were "SP" from the crimson low nose to the rear coupler, all but the lettering. They were good but SP was not completely sold (and neither were the engines) and there are no SD-24's on the SP roster today. The units went to the Union Pacific and were purchased after only a month on the road.
Most of the SD-24's were built in 1959 and 1960 but one last one was built in 1963 - Kennecott Copper 904 - the only one built without dynamic brakes.
Fig 3 SD-24 Kennecott
Copper #904 from the author’s locomotive collection
ROSTER
SANTA FE 900-979 renumbered 4500-4579 were
upgraded to "SD-26" and
numbered
4600-4679
KENNECOTT COPPER 904
UNION PACIFIC 400-429
445-447 originally demonstrators 7200-7202
HIGH-NOSE:
BURLINGTON 500-515 became the BURLINGTON NORTHERN
6240-6255
SOUTHERN 2502-2524
CNO&TP 6305-6325
NO&NE 6950-6953
UNION PACIFIC 448 originally demonstrator 5579
400B-444B cabless booster units.
Several new paint schemes were introduced with the SD-24's. The first Santa Fe units were delivered in the black and silver “Zebra Stripe" job with the huge "SANTA FE" in yellow on blue appearing on the remainder. After that they received the "Yellow Bonnet“ dress. The Burlington introduced their striking Chinese Red and Grey with these units then they went to the BN Green while the Southern presented their new units in a shiny black with gold and white bands.
There were not nearly as many SD-24's as there were some other models of locomotives and they were mostly western locomotives but their "turbo-supercharger whine" resounded from the wooded "Rathole Division" of the Southern, to Glorietta, Raton and Cajon Passes- and Sherman Hill. Places where there was freight to be moved and a job to be done.
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