GMD GMD1

General Motors Diesel GMD1
Canadian National 1002 in Port Mann in September 1987
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Diesel
Build dateAugust 1958 – April 1960
Total produced101
Specifications
Configuration:
 • AARA1A-A1A (83);
B-B (18)
 • UIC(A1A)(A1A); Bo′Bo′
Prime moverEMD 12-567C
Engine typeV12 diesel
AspirationRoots type supercharger
Cylinders12
Performance figures
Power output1,200 hp (890 kW)

The GMD GMD1 is a diesel locomotive originally produced by General Motors Diesel (GMD), the Canadian subsidiary of General Motors Electro-Motive Division, between August 1958 and April 1960. This road switcher locomotive is powered by a 12-cylinder EMD 567C diesel engine, capable of producing 1,200 horsepower (890 kW). The GMD1 was built on either Flexicoil A1A-A1A (for light-rail prairie branchlines) or Flexicoil B-B trucks. One hundred and one were built, Canadian National (CN) purchased 96 and Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) the remaining five, which later became part of CN's fleet when they acquired majority interest in NAR.[1]

As the light branches were abandoned or rehabilitated, the bulk were upgraded with new fuel tanks and Flexicoil B-B trucks and assigned to yard and transfer service. In 1988/89, 39 GMD1s were remanufactured by CN as GMD 1Us, 12 emerged with B-B trucks and continued to run long-hood-forward, while the others retained their A1A trucks and were converted to shorthood-forward operation.[2] On April 19, 2021, CN's last GMD-1 was retired from revenue service.[3]

  1. ^ Distinctive GMs get second lives Trains December 2010 page 18
  2. ^ GMD1's reign on the plains comes to an end Trains August 1999 pages 32/33
  3. ^ "CN's final GMD1 locomotives retired, but one goes to preservation group".