The Reading Company was the only class one railroad in the United States to order the SW1001 from EMD. 25 units were purchased in 1973. The SW1001 is identical to its close cousin the SW1000 except that the SW1001 has a lower cab roof the Reading specially ordered so the locomotives could negotiate the close clearance of some plants and steel mills the railroad served.

On the technical side, the SW1001 had a 1000 horsepower, 8-cylinder, 8-645E prime mover. All the units were cab signal equipped, allowing them to serve anywhere on Conrail's system. Even though CR 9400-9424 were equipped with hump control, I don't remember them ever doing such duty at least on Conrail. They were often found working Eastern Pennsylvania yards some local duties.

Comprehensive EMD SW1001 Roster

The roster below is comprehensive for these units when they arrived from the Reading Company on April 1, 1976 until their last day of service on Conrail. The roster includes each unit's first disposition. A special thanks to Conrail The Final Years: 1992-1997 by Withers for completing the built dates and builder's numbers.

                         Builder's
CR #   Former    Built   Number     Removed    Disposition
==========================================================
9400   RDG 2625  12/73   73623-25   05/31/99   NS 9400
9401   RDG 2601  11/73   73623-1    05/31/99   CSX 1120
9402   RDG 2602  11/73   73623-2    05/31/99   CSX 1121
9403   RDG 2603  11/73   73623-3    05/31/99   CSX 1122
9404   RDG 2604  11/73   73623-4    05/31/99   CSX 1123
9405   RDG 2605  11/73   73623-5    06/11/97   GNWR 1000
9406   RDG 2606  11/73   73623-6    05/31/99   CSX 1124
9407   RDG 2607  11/73   73623-7    05/31/99   CSX 1125
9408   RDG 2608  11/73   73623-8    05/31/99   CSX 1126
9409   RDG 2609  11/73   73623-9    05/31/99   NS 9409
9410   RDG 2610  11/73   73623-10   05/31/99   CSX 1127
9411   RDG 2611  11/73   73623-11   05/31/99   CSX 1128
9412   RDG 2612  11/73   73623-12   05/31/99   NS 9412
9413   RDG 2613  11/73   73623-13   05/31/99   NS 9413
9414   RDG 2614  11/73   73623-14   05/31/99   NS 9414
9415   RDG 2615  11/73   73623-15   05/31/99   NS 9415
9416   RDG 2616  11/73   73623-16   05/31/99   NS 9416
9417   RDG 2617  11/73   73623-17   06/11/97   GNWR 1001
9418   RDG 2618  11/73   73623-18   05/31/99   NS 9418
9419   RDG 2619  11/73   73623-19   05/31/99   NS 9419
9420   RDG 2620  11/73   73623-20   05/31/99   NS 9420
9421   RDG 2621  11/73   73623-21   05/31/99   NS 9421
9422   RDG 2622  12/73   73623-22   05/31/99   NS 9422
9423   RDG 2623  12/73   73623-23   06/11/97   GNWR 1002
9424   RDG 2624  12/73   73623-24   06/11/97   RLIX 1003