Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad 606

CMStP&P 606: The Milwaukee Road in the Tennessee Valley

This locomotive was built in 1954 by the Electro-Motive Division (of General Motors) for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad as an SW1200, numbered 2054. The SW1200s were powered by a 12-cylinder, 1,200 horsepower EMD 567C prime mover, a development on early 1,000 horsepower units EMD produced. During a Milwaukee Road renumbering in the late 1950s, 2054 became 606. As the 606 it served diligently, switching across the vast expanses of the Milwaukee Road’s intricate system until the mid-1980s, when the locomotive was retired when the Milwaukee Road suspended operations. Chrome Crankshaft acquired the locomotive, and remanufactured it prior to sale to the U.S. Navy as USN 65-00629. The locomotive saw over 25 years of service with the Navy, latterly at Crane, Indiana, until 2015, when the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM) welcomed this locomotive into its fold, acquiring it from the United States Navy in Crane, Indiana.

Upon arrival at the museum, the locomotive was repainted into TVRM’s livery, with a nod to the 1960s MILW livery, and presently 606 remains an integral part of TVRM’s fleet, adeptly handling passenger trains, freight operations, and switching tasks, staying true to its original design and purpose. The U.S. Navy still has a couple of these ex-MILW SW1200 units in operation, and the Oklahoma Railway Museum has restored MILW 615 (S/N 18759) to its 1960s era scheme.