EMD FP7

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EMD FP7

SSW ("Cotton Belt") #306 at St. Louis, Missouri, 1953
Power type	Diesel-electric
Builder	General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
Model	FP7
Build date	June 1949 – December 1953
Total production	378 A units
AAR wheel arr.	B-B
Gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Power output	1,500 hp

The EMD FP7 was a 1,500 hp, B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant, excepting locomotives destined for Canada, in which case final assembly was at GM's Diesel Division plant in London, Ontario. The FP7 was essentially EMD's F7 locomotive extended by four feet to give greater water capacity for the steam generator for heating passenger trains. A total of 378 cab-equipped lead A units were built; unlike the freight series, no cabless booster B units were sold. Regular F7B units were sometimes used with FP7 A units, since they, lacking cabs, had more room for water and steam generators. The FP7 and its successor, the FP9, were offshoots of GM-EMD's highly successful F-unit series of cab unit freight diesels.

It is important to note that F3s, F7s, and F9s equipped for passenger service are not FP-series locomotives, which although similar in appearance have distinctive differences, including but not limited to the greater body length.

The extra 4 ft of length was added behind the first body-side porthole, and can be recognised by the greater distance between that porthole and the first small carbody filter grille. The corresponding space beneath the body, behind the front truck, was also opened up; this either remained an empty space or was filled with a distinctive water tank shaped like a barrel mounted transversely.

[edit] Original buyers

Pennsylvania Railroad FP7 (PRR class EFP-15) #9840. The barrel-like extra tank under the locomotive can be seen.

[edit] Preserved examples

Western Pacific 805-A, a locomotive used on the famous California Zephyr, is preserved in operable condition at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola, CA. It is being restored as part of the museum's Zephyr Project. Another is Southern Railway (of the United States) No. 6133, in working condition at the North Carolina Transportation Museum at Spencer, North Carolina.

[edit] References

• EMD's FP7 - Original Owners. Retrieved on January 4, 2005.
• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Milwaukee, WI. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.