EMD GP7

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EMD GP7

ITC 1605, at the Illinois Railway Museum
Power type	Diesel-electric
Builder	General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
Build date	October 1949 – May 1954
Total production	2,724 (and 5 B units)
Prime mover	EMD 567B
Cylinders	16
Power output	1500 hp (1.1 MW)

An EMD GP7 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between October 1949 and May 1954. Power was provided by an EMD 567B 16-cylinder engine which generated 1500 horsepower (1.1 MW)^[1]. This locomotive type was offered both with and without control cabs; locomotives built without control cabs were called GP7B locomotives. The GP7B locomotives were built between March and April of 1953.

2,610 examples of this locomotive model were built for American railroads, 112 were built for Canadian railroads and 2 were built for Mexican railroads. Of the GP7B, 5 examples were built for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

GP7s made popular the road switcher configuration of diesel locomotives, and EMD soon found themselves barely able to produce enough of these units to meet customer demand. Subsequently, locomotives in EMDs 'GP' series came to be nicknamed 'Geeps', and many GP7s as well as later models can still be found in service today, although most Class 1 Rail carriers discontinued usage of these engines in the early 1980s.

[edit] Preservation

The GP7 can still be seen on shortline railroads and in museums. This long lasting road switcher is good for any job, making it the ideal industrial locomotive.

One of the largest preserved rosters can be found in Portola, California, at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum. The WPRM is home to Western Pacific (WP) units 705, 707 and 708 and Sacramento Northern unit 712. WP 707 is fully restored and is maintained in mainline ready condition.

The United Railways Historical Society owns two former NJT, ex CR, nee Central Railroad of New Jersey GP7Ps, #1523 and 1524.

The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States, also has a few operating GP7s. Visitors can charter one of these locomotives for an hour and operate it themselves (under the watchful eye of a TVRM engineer) along two miles of TVRM's line. TVRM uses its GP7s not only for charters, but also for pulling excursion trains and for servicing its one industrial customer.

The Minnesota Transportation Museum operates a GP7 on its Osceola and St Croix Valley Railway. Painted as Soo Line 559, it was built as Rock Island 1223, rebuilt as their 4505, sold to the Chicago & North Western as their 4159, spun off to the Fox River Valley then acquired with the railroad by the Wisconsin Central. The locomotive was purchased by the museum from the Wisconsin Central.

BBRR 1, a GP7, with the ODC special, Dillwyn, Virginia.

Chesapeake and Albemarle 2158 (an ATSF GP7U) sits outside the office in Elizabeth City, NC.

OmniTrack 4433 (an ex-CNW GP7) spotted on CSX in Augusta, GA.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ The History of EMD Diesel Engines

[edit] References

• The History of EMD Diesel Engines. Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. Retrieved on December 14, 2005.
• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-89024-026-4. 

v • d • e 4-axle general purpose diesel locomotives built by GM-EMD
BL2, GP7, GP9, GP15-1, GP15AC, GP15T, GP18, GP20, GP20D, GP28, GP30, GP35, GP38, GP38AC, GP38-2, GP39, GP39DC, GP39X, GP39-2, GP40, GP40P, GP40P-2, GP40TC, GP40X, GP40-2, GP49, GP50, GP59, GP60
(See also: List of GM-EMD locomotives)