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EMD SD24

model of 2400 hp Co′Co′ American diesel locomotive

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 25, 2026
Entity authorityQ5323460
Source-derived summary

The EMD SD24 is a 2,400 hp (1,800 kW) six-axle (C-C) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1958 and March 1963. A total of 224 units were built for customers in the United States, comprising 179 regular, cab-equipped locomotives and 45 cabless B units. The latter were built solely for the Union Pacific Railroad.

The SD24 was the first EMD production locomotive to be built with an EMD turbocharged diesel engine. The first SD24 was built sixteen months before the four-axle (B-B) model GP20. Power output of the SD24 was 33 percent higher than the 1,800 hp (1,340 kW) of the concurrent Roots blower-equipped SD18s with the same engine displacement. The SD24 has 400 hp (298 kW) per axle, limited by the traction motors available. Nevertheless, the turbocharged SD24 provides full rated power at all altitudes, which the Roots-blown SD18 could not provide.

In terms of sales, the SD24 was only a moderate success, and had average service lives in SD24 configuration (though a few non-turbocharged rebuilds are still in operation), but the SD24 was a milestone in EMD locomotive development and the forerunner to today's high-powered six-axle locomotives.

EMD thought the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range Railway would want to start purchasing the SD24 and sent the first demonstrator to the DMIR painted in the road's livery.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “EMD SD24” as model of 2400 hp Co′Co′ American diesel locomotive. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around SD24, model and American.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1958, 1963—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with SD24, model and American providing the first useful test.
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Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “EMD SD24”, the useful work is to connect “model of 2400 hp Co′Co′ American diesel locomotive” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5323460. The Library of Congress control number is sh2002000654. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1958 and 1963.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from EMD SD24” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.