SBD | Locomotives

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Seaboard System Railroad - SBD

Diesel Locomotives of the Seaboard System Railroad

Below is a diesel locomotive roster for the Seaboard System (SBD) Railroad, organized by manufacturer and then by model. This roster includes the number of units the SBD owned for each model. There are numerous websites, books, and archived reference materials that include the details of each individual locomotive.

This Seaboard System (SBD) diesel roster is compiled from the inherited fleets of the Seaboard Coast Line (SCL), Louisville and Nashville (L&N), Clinchfield Railroad (CRR), Atlanta and West Point (A&WP), and Georgia Railroad (GA) at the time of the 1982 consolidation. It also includes new locomotives purchased specifically for the Seaboard System. 

Electro-Motive Division (EMD)

  • MP15T: 20 locomotives. (Purchased by SBD) A versatile switcher model for yard and local freight service.
  • SW7/SW9: 44 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) Older switcher units used for industrial and yard duty.
  • SW1500: 15 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) More powerful switchers used for heavier yard work.
  • GP7: ~100 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL and L&N) Many of these older road switchers were in various states of retirement or rebuilding.
  • GP9: ~150 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL and L&N) A large portion of the inherited road switcher fleet.
  • GP16: 149 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) These were rebuilt GP7/GP9 units from the SCL.
  • GP38AC: 50 locomotives. (Inherited from L&N) L&N’s variant of the GP38, often used in coal-hauling service.
  • GP38-2: 79 locomotives (Inherited from SCL) and 70 locomotives (Inherited from L&N). A large, reliable fleet of road switchers.
  • GP40: ~100 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL and L&N) Fast freight locomotives that were a key part of the SCL and L&N fleets.
  • GP40-2: 78 locomotives (Inherited from SCL), 27 locomotives (Inherited from L&N), and 4 locomotives (Inherited from Georgia/A&WP). A large number of these were received from predecessors.
  • SD35: 35 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL and L&N) Older, six-axle units.
  • SD40: 114 locomotives. (Inherited from L&N) A reliable fleet for heavy freight service.
  • SD40-2: 116 locomotives (Inherited from SCL) and 124 locomotives (Inherited from L&N/CRR). This was the SBD’s most numerous high-horsepower locomotive.
  • SD45: 46 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) Six-axle, high-horsepower units.
  • SD45-2: 15 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) An updated SD45.
  • SD50: 81 locomotives. (Purchased by SBD) These were acquired new for the SBD fleet, serving as high-horsepower road power. 

General Electric (GE)

  • U18B: 15 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) Lighter-weight units for local freights.
  • U25B: 12 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) Early GE “U-boats”.
  • U30B: 12 locomotives (Inherited from SCL) and 4 locomotives (Inherited from L&N). An early 3,000hp model.
  • U33B: 38 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) Six-axle U-boats.
  • U36B: 108 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) A large fleet of powerful freight units.
  • B23-7: 73 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) Reliable units acquired in the late 1970s.
  • BQ23-7: 10 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) Unique variant with an extended cab for crew.
  • C30-7: 105 locomotives (Inherited from SCL) and 44 locomotives (Inherited from L&N). Six-axle, high-horsepower units.
  • B36-7: 120 locomotives. (Purchased by SBD) A significant order of new four-axle units for SBD. 

American Locomotive Company (ALCO)

  • C420: 27 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL/ACL) Versatile four-axle road switchers.
  • C628: 18 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL/ACL) Powerful six-axle units.
  • RS-11: 15 locomotives. (Inherited from ACL) Medium-horsepower road switchers. 

Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW)

  • S-12: 55 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL) Switchers from both the ACL and SAL.
  • AS-616: 63 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL/ACL) Powerful road switchers. 

Fairbanks-Morse (FM)

  • H16-44: 15 locomotives. (Inherited from SCL/ACL) Road switchers from the FM “Hood” series. 

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For More Information – Sources and Resources

The following are excellent resources for those of you wanting to explore and learn more about the history and operation of the Appalachian Railroads. These sources of information also serve as reference and historical materials for Appalachian-Railroads.org. Much of the collective railroad history data points on this website are verified across multiple sources.

  • Personal Maps & Memorabilia: Documents, maps, timetables, and track charts
  • Associations, Historical Societies and their Archives
  • Archives of Appalachia: ETSU, Johnson City TN
  • Newspaper Articles: Newspapers.com
  • Magazines/Online: ‘Trains‘, ‘Classic Trains‘
  • Books
    • Drury: The Historical Guide to North American Railroads
    • Appalachian Region
      • Grant: ‘The Louisville, Cincinnati & Charleston Rail Road’
      • Graybeal: ‘The Railroads of Johnson City
      • Huddleston: ‘Appalachian Crossings – The Pocahontas Roads‘ and ‘Appalachian Conquest‘
      • Poole: ‘A History of Railroading in Western North Carolina‘
      • Timko and Young: ‘Appalchian Coal Mines and Railroads, Vol. 1, 2, & 3‘
      • Roberts: ‘Sand Patch, Clash of the Titans‘
      • Yanosey: ‘Tidewater Triangle’
    • Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
      • Calloway: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Diesel Years‘
      • Griffin: ‘Atlantic Coast Line, The Standard Railroad of the South‘
      • Goolsby: ‘Atlantic Coast Line Passenger Service, The Postwar Years‘
    • Baltimore & Ohio Railway
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Baltimore & Ohio’
      • McGuirk: ‘Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in the Potomac Valley‘
      • Ori, Salamon and Oroszi: Baltimore & Ohio/Reflections of the Capitol Dome‘ and ‘Baltimore & Ohio/Sunburst Trail to Chicago’
    • C&O Railway/Chessie System
      • Dixon: ‘Chesapeake & Ohio, Superpower to Diesels‘, Chesapeake & Ohio in the Coalfields, ‘C&O Allegheny Subdivision‘, and ‘Chesapeake & Ohio Railway – A Concise History and Fact Book‘, and ‘The Chessie Era’
      • Dorin: ‘The Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’
      • Huddleston: ‘Riding the New River Train‘
      • Ori – ‘Chessie System‘
      • Paton: ‘Allegheny with an A’
      • Turner: ‘Chessie’s Road‘
    • Clinchfield Railroad
      • Beach: ‘The Black Mountain Railway’
      • Goforth: ‘Building the Clinchfield‘ and ‘When Steam Ran the Clinchfield‘
      • Helm: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad in the Coal Fields‘
      • Irwin & Stahl: ‘The Last Empire Builder: The Life of George L. Carter‘
      • King: ‘Clinchfield Country‘
      • Marsh: ‘Clinchfield in Color‘
      • Poteat & Taylor: ‘The CSX Clinchfield Route in the 21st Century‘
      • Stevens & Peoples: ‘The Clinchfield No. 1 – Tennessee’s Legendary Steam Engine‘
      • Way: ‘The Clinchfield Railroad, the Story of a Trade Route Across the Blue Ridge Mountains‘
    • CSX Railroad
      • Springirth: ‘CSX Transportation Heritage‘
    • ET&WNC: Listed on the website’s ET&WNC pages
    • Interstate Railroad
      • Wolfe & Wolfe: ‘Appalachian Coal Hauler’
      • Wolfe: ‘The Interstate Railroad‘
    • L&N Railroad
      • Castner, Flanary & Dorin: Louisville & Nashville Railroad The Old Reliable‘
      • Flanary: The Louisville & Nashville Cumberland Valley Division
      • Flanary, Oroszi & McKee: ‘The Louisville & Nashville in the Appalachians‘
      • Oroszi & Flanary: ‘Dixie Lines, The Louisville & Nashville Railroad‘
    • NC&StL Railway
      • Prince: ‘Nashville Chattanooga & St Louis Railway‘
    • Norfolk Southern
      • Esposito: ‘Norfolk Southern Railroad’
      • Lindsey: ‘Norfolk Southern 1995 Review‘
    • Norfolk & Western Railway
      • Newton: ‘Rails Remembered, Volumes 1-6
      • Warden: ‘Norfolk & Western: Diesel’s Last Conquest‘ and ‘Norfolk & Western’s Passenger Service’
      • Wolfe, Wilson & Mandelkern: ‘Norfolk & Western’s Clinch Valley Line‘
    • Pennsylvania Railroad
      • Jacobs: ‘The History of the Pennsylvania Railroad‘
    • Seaboard Air Line, Seaboard Coast Line, Seaboard System
      • Calloway and Withers: ‘Seaboard Motive Power‘
      • Carleton: ‘Locomotives of the Seaboard System‘
      • Griffin: ‘Seaboard Coast Line and Family Lines Railroad‘ and ‘All Lines North of Raleigh‘
      • Johnson: ‘Through the Heart of the South‘
    • Southern Railway
      • Davis: The Southern Railway, Road of the Innovators‘
      • Flanary, Lindsey & Oroszi. The Southern Railway‘
      • Webb: ‘The Southern Railway System: An Illustrated History‘
      • Wolfe: ‘Southern Railway Appalachia Division‘
    • Virginian Railway
      • Reisweber: ‘Virginian Rails’
      • Wiley & Wallace: ‘The Virginian Railway Handbook‘
  • Online Article: Flanary: ‘The Quick Service Route, The Clinchfield Railroad‘; Scientific American: ‘The Costliest Railroad in America‘
  • Online Videos: Ken Marsh on Kingsport area railroads and region’s history Video #1 | Video #2:
  • Websites:

3Cs Websites

Appalachian-Railroads.org | Clinchfield.org | Southern-Railroads.org