The “yard goat.” It is a hallowed nickname dating back to the age of steam and given to American yeomen railroad yard switchers. Today, there remains an important role for the “yard goat,” including for a passenger railroad like Amtrak -- and coming soon to Train Sim World will be a yard switcher that is both representative of a classic generation of diesel yard switchers yet quite unique: The Amtrak SW1000R.

Amtrak employs diesel yard switchers at its major terminal locations, such as New York’s Sunnyside Yard, Washington (D.C.)’s Ivy City, Chicago, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, where the diesels pull together passenger consists and move equipment to and from maintenance shops. Over its nearly five decades of existence, Amtrak has called upon a diverse fleet of yard switchers, ranging from hand-me-down first-generation Electro-Motive diesels to contemporary “low emissions” and “GenSet” locomotives. Among the collection of veteran diesel switchers that Amtrak has employed is the railroad’s distinctive SW1000R locomotives.

In search of a low-cost solution to its switching needs, Amtrak in 1994 acquired a group of ten second-hand Electro-Motive switchers that had been built as EMD SW9 or SW1200 locomotives, which dated to the 1950s, and that had been originally owned by railroads including the Katy, Milwaukee Road, Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, and Baltimore & Ohio. For Amtrak service, the aged switchers were put through a rebuilding process at NRE (National Railway Equipment) which included repowering the diminutive locomotives with a 1,000-horsepower EMD 645-series power plant.

Following their rebuilding at NRE, the Amtrak SW1000Rs, wearing Amtrak road numbers 790-799 and clad in the passenger road’s attractive silver-and-black switcher livery, have gone on to long and successful careers at Amtrak locations across the U. S., although in recent times a number of the units have been retired or further rebuilt.

Soon, for service on the Northeast Corridor New York route, the Amtrak SW1000R will be arriving as DLC for Train Sim World. Distinctive in its rebuilt form, the Amtrak SW1000R nonetheless retained the classic design and general appearance of Electro-Motive’s end-cab switchers, thousands of which were constructed. With the Amtrak SW1000R, you’ll have the opportunity to climb aboard this classic diesel and handle a variety of duties in and around famed and bustling Sunnyside Yard in the Queens borough of New York City.

The Train Sim World Amtrak SW1000R diesel switcher will feature full and realistic operating features and controls, authentic sounds, exacting details, and a selection of three scenarios as well as being ready for duty in TSW’s popular “service mode.”

Stay tuned here at Dovetail Live for further news about the upcoming add-on and the distinctive Train Sim World Amtrak SW1000R “yard goat!” – Gary Dolzall