Southern Pacific 9010

Southern Pacific 9010

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 (currently supplying locomotives as Siemens Mobility). 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).