The Electro-Motive Division of General Motors introduced the NW2 switcher in 1939, using the new 567A diesel engine. In the old Electro-Motive terminology, NW2 stood for Nine hundred horsepower (which was not entirely right, the NW2 had 1,000 hp), Welded frame, and 2 was a model designation, because EMD had built a few NW-type locomotives before. Railroads started buying these switchers, finding them reliable and economical in yard and switching service. But in the eyes of the U.S. government, they were inferior to the American Locomotive Company's switcher offerings. As World War II enveloped America, Electro-Motive was ordered to cease production of all switcher locomotives and focus on their FT road diesels. The NW2 would make a post-war comeback and enjoy several more years of uninterrupted production. Finally, the SW7 replaced the NW2 in Electro-Motive's locomotive catalog at the end of 1949. In the late 1930s, the Pennsylvania Railroad put in an order for a few EMD switchers, including one NW2. Pennsy's only pre-war NW2 was delivered in October of 1941, as Electro-Motive serial number 1426. This was the lone NW2 on the Pennsylvania roster until postwar units were delivered in 1946. Delivery of PRR NW2s continued sporadically until 1948. Pre-war and early post-war production NW2s were distinguished from most of their post-war sisters by the lack of side louvers.
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