Home » Locomotive profile: Sharknose diesel electric locomotive

Locomotive profile: Sharknose diesel electric locomotive

By Angela Cotey | March 6, 2020

| Last updated on August 22, 2021


Baldwin produced three versions of the distinctive cab units

New York Central Sharknose RF16 type diesel electric locomotives at West Detroit, Michigan, in 1961.
New York Central Sharknose RF16 diesel-electric locomotives at West Detroit, Mich. in 1961. (J. David Ingles)

Sharknose

•YEARS BUILT: 1948-1953

•MANUFACTURER: Baldwin

•OPERATED ON: Baltimore & Ohio; New York Central; Pennsylvania Railroad; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern

•NAMES: DR-6-4-20, RF-16, DR-4-15

•QUANTITY: 187 total A&B units combined

•HORSEPOWER: 1,600 for RF-16 and 2,000 for DR-6-4-20

•KNOWN FOR: Distinctive nose/cab design by Raymond Loewy, based on the Pennsylvania Railroad’s streamlined T-1 steam locomotive

•STATUS: Two Delaware & Hudson units (former New York Central) stored at the Escanaba & Lake Superior

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