Southern Pacific 9010

Southern Pacific 9010
Southern Pacific 9010 under restoration at Niles Canyon Brightside Yard
Type and origin Power type Diesel Builder Krauss-Maffei Serial number 19106 Model ML-4000 Build date 1964 Rebuild date 1968-69 (as camera car)
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR C-C  • UIC C'C' Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Career Operators Southern Pacific Railroad Numbers 9010, renum 9113 in 1965, SPMW 1166 in 1968, 8799 in 1969 Locale Roseville, California, then flat territories, California Retired 1968 (as a locomotive), 1984 (as a "Camera Car") Current owner Pacific Locomotive Association Disposition Under cosmetic & mechanical restoration

Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) locomotive number 9010 is a KM ML 4000 C'C' diesel-hydraulic locomotive, built in 1964 by German manufacturer Krauss-Maffei. SP 9010 generated 4,000 horsepower (3,000 kW) from two 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW) V16 Maybach MD870 diesel engines. It was painted to Southern Pacific's 1958 standard, the so-called "bloody nose" colors of Scarlet and Lark Dark Gray, for its entire operating career. It was renumbered to SP 9113 in late 1965, rebuilt extensively at SP's Sacramento General Shops (later Sacramento Locomotive Works) during the latter half of 1966, and was initially retired in 1968. It was revived and rebuilt by Sacramento General Shops into a "camera car" for the purpose of shooting motion picture background plates for a ground-based full-motion locomotive training simulator. As camera car number 8799, it was retired in 1984 and donated to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California. It was de-accessioned by CSRM and acquired by the Pacific Locomotive Association and moved to the Niles Canyon Railway's Brightside, California rail yard in the summer of 2008. It is currently undergoing cosmetic and mechanical restoration. At the date of its inception, its type represented the highest-horsepower six-axle diesel locomotives in the world. SP 9010 is the sole surviving ML 4000 C'C' built for use in North America, and the sole surviving mainline diesel-hydraulic locomotive in North America. (Several diesel-hydraulic switchers exist in service and in museums).

SP 9010 was delivered as part of the second order of ML 4000 C'C' units in the Spring of 1964, road numbers 9003-9017. (ML: Mechanical Locomotive; 4000: net horsepower; C'C': two powered bogies/trucks with three connected axles each.) The first order of six locomotives—three for SP and three for the Denver and Rio Grande Western) -- were called "Prototypes" by KM, but were popularly known in the U.S. as "cab units" due to their fully enclosed car bodies, similar to the EMD F-unit. KM originally suggested to SP and DRGW a "center cab" unit, which had a cab in between the two prime movers, but both turned it down. SP 9010 was a member of the second production order of fifteen locomotives. These were called "Series" units by KM, but were known as "hood units" in the US after the more modern narrow-hood carbody with external walkways. SP's stated motives for ordering the German-manufactured locomotives were a desire for more power per axle, better adhesion to the rails, freedom from electrical malfunctions, and fewer locomotives in 'consist' than the available American diesel-electric locomotives of the time. SP owned a total of 21 ML 4000 C'C' locomotives, and a total of 24 of the diesel-hydraulic type. ML 4000s were originally used in freight service on SP's famous Donner Pass line over California's Sierra Nevada, as they were originally intended to replace the EMD F7, and had a special track set up at the Roseville locomotive shops specifically for servicing the locomotives, with German mechanics and supervisors from K-M taking U.S. residence. However, the locomotives were found unsuitable in mountain service after extensive testing and relegated to service in the flat territory of the San Joaquin Valley, often running in tandem with EMD F7s or EMD GP9s.