San Diego Railroad Museum Diesel Gallery

(Click on picture for full-sized image)

Locomotive 1820 (before)

These four views show MRS-1 #1820, last in a series of 13 Military Road Switchers built by the Electromotive Division of General Motors for the United States military during 1951 and '52. These photos date back to February of 1992, when Dave Slater, longtime member (engineer/ fireman/brakeman/conductor) of the San Diego Railroad Museum was putting together a plan and crew to get #1820 running again. Check here for more information on the restoration, now completed.

This 6-axle locomotive uses a 16-567B two-stroke Diesel engine of 1600 HP, and last operated more than 15 years ago, including sub-arctic testing in northern Canada. It has variable gauge trucks, so that it could be run on standard 56 1/2" gauge tracks and three larger gauges such as is found in Siberia and North Korea. Locomotive #1809, second in the series from EMD, operates every weekend at Campo, CA. pulling our demonstration train over 1.4% grades in eastern San Diego County.

Locomotive 1820 (after)

These photos show the progress that's been made on Locomotive 1820 since February of 1992 when the restoration project began. Project leader Dave Slater has orchestrated the many aspects of the cosmetic and mechanical facelift of this locomotive. Dave can be seen waving from the fireman's side cab window, with Leonard Lovett, ex-Southern Pacific fireman standing to the left.

Note the new black and yellow paint job, as delivered from the EMD factory in La Grange, Ill. in 1952. Note also the area between the word "CORPS" and the insignia. This cab-width strip was rotted out badly, as the "before" collage showed. Other body parts have also been cleaned out and welded as new by Dick McIntyre, the Museum's "metal magician." He also created the two exhaust stack covers, as can be seen in the upper photos.

All funding for this project has come from donations from those interested in seeing #1820 run again. All of us working on #1820 are volunteers.

If you have ever operated one of these locomotives while serving in the U.S. military, please let us know, and we'll pass on your information to Dave Slater.

Locomotive 1809

San Diego & Arizona #1809 prepares to pull its excursion train eastbound up the 1.4% grade to Miller Creek with volunteer engineer Jack O'Lexey at the throttle. These excursion trains are run most every weekend and most holidays at 12:01 and 2:30 on a fifteen mile round trip into the mountains of San Diego County. #1809 is an EMD MRS-1 (Military Road Switcher with variable gauge) built in 1952, and wears the "Black Widow" paint scheme made famous by the Southern Pacific.

Photo by Randy Houk

Locomotive 1820

U.S. Army Transportation Corps #1820 as shown in the final stages of restoration at the Campo, CA shops of the San Diego Railroad Museum. When the work on its EMD 567B-16 Diesel is completed she will work on the Museum's excursion trains, as #1809 does now. The 567 engine is a V-16 2-stroke with 567 cubic inches for each of its cylinders, and holds 200 gallons of lube oil and cooling water. It produces 1600 HP @ 850 RPM. This is small by today's standards.
Picture date: November 26, 1994

Photo by Randy Houk

Locomotive 2098

Santa Fe #2098 prepares to depart the Campo depot with its excursion train. #2098 is an ALCO RS-2, and wears Santa Fe's "Tiger Stripe" paint scheme. This locomotive and #2104 are powered by a V-12 turbo-charged 4-stroke Diesel rated at 1600 HP.
Picture date: November 25, 1994

Photo by Randy Houk

Locomotive 2104

U.S. Air Force #2104 at the Campo depot with its excursion train. Volunteer conductor Don Getz and engineer Dave Slater are waving, and fireman Randy Houk leans out the cab window. #2104 is an ALCO MRS-1, and is powered by a V-12 turbo-charged 4-stroke Diesel rated at 1600 HP. Like #1809 and #1820, #2104 has variable gauge trucks which would allow it to be used on wide-gauge tracks found in North Korea and other parts of the world.
Picture date: Summer, 1994

Photo by Julie Baker

Locomotive #7285

General Electric 80 ton switching locomotive. Two Cummins Diesels provide 500 HP for traction. Former United States Marine Corps #248391, it was used at Camp Pendleton for over 20 years. Built in 1943, and donated to SDRM by the Marine Corps. Sounds just like a truck!
Picture date: July 9, 1995

Photo and scan by Randy Houk

Last update: 17 Sep 1995

Please address all questions/comments to: webspinner@sdrm.org.