EMD E7


The E7 was a 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. 428 cab versions, or E7As, were built from February 1945 to April 1949; 82 booster E7Bs were built from March 1945 to July 1948. (Circa 1953 one more E7A was built by the Los Angeles General Shops of the Southern Pacific by rebuilding an E2A.) The 2,000 hp came from two 12 cylinder model 567A engines. Each engine drove its own electrical generator to power the two traction motors on one truck. The E7 was the eighth model in a line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units, and it became the best selling E model upon its introduction.

EMD E7
Pennsylvania Railroad E7A #5901 on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 2015.
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
ModelE7
Build dateFebruary 1945 – April 1949
Total produced428 A units, 82 B units
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • AARA1A-A1A
Gauge4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Wheel diameter36 in (914 mm)
Minimum curve21° (274.37 ft or 83.63 m radius)
Length71 ft (22 m)
Width10 ft 6 1⁄2 in (3.213 m)
Height14 ft 11 in (4.55 m)
Loco weightA unit: 315,000 lb (143,000 kg), B unit: 290,000 lb (130,000 kg)
Fuel typeDiesel
Prime mover(2) EMD 567A
RPM range800
Engine typeV12 Two-stroke diesel
AspirationRoots-type supercharger
Displacement6,804 cu in (111.50 L) each
Generator(2) EMD D-4
Traction motors(4) GM D7 or D17 or D27
Cylinders(2) 12
Performance figures
Maximum speed85–117 mph (137–188 km/h)
Power output2,000 hp (1,491 kW) total
Tractive effort56,500 lb (25,600 kg) starting, 31,000 lb (14,000 kg) continuous
Career
LocaleUnited States
DispositionOne preserved in static display.

In profile the front of the nose of an E7A was less slanted than on earlier EMD passenger locomotives, and the E7, E8, and E9 units have been nicknamed “bulldog nose” units. Some earlier units were called “shovel nose” units or “slant nose” units.

These units are often regarded as "the best selling passenger deisel locomotive ever."

In film

A Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad E7A, #103-A, appears at the start and end of the 1967 film In The Heat of the Night.

A Southern Pacific E7A, #6001, is on the point of a train that figures prominently in "The Hitch-Hiker", a popular 1960 episode of the anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, starring Inger Stevens. (According to the narration, Steven's character is said to encounter the train somewhere between Pennsylvania and Tennessee, yet the locomotive's number board shows that the train, #99, is the Coast Daylight, which travelled between Los Angeles and San Francisco.)

Surviving example

Ex-Pennsylvania Railroad E7A #5901 has been preserved by the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. This locomotive has been cosmetically restored, and is currently on indoor display. It is the only surviving example.

Original owners
RailroadQuantity
A units		Quantity
B units		Road numbers
A units		Road numbers
B units		Notes
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)1—765—Former GM Train of Tomorrow demonstrator, sold to Union Pacific 988
Alton Railroad7—101,A–103,A, 100—to GM&O in 1947
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad2010524–543755–764
Bangor and Aroostook Railroad2—700–701—renumbered 10–11, Both Re-geared for freight in 1962
Boston and Maine Railroad21—3800–3820—
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad18—64,A–80,A—Even numbers only
Central of Georgia Railway10—801–810—
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway4—95–98—
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad3—1100–1102—
Chicago and North Western Railway26—5007B, 5008A,B–5019A,B, 5020A—
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad44—9916A,B–9936A,B, 9937A, 9949—
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad119632–642632B–634B, 637B–642B
Florida East Coast Railway1731006–10221052–1054
Great Northern Railway13—500A,B–504A,B, 510A–512A—500A,B–504A,B renumbered 500A–509A
Illinois Central Railroad1444005–4017, 40004100–4103
Louisville and Nashville Railroad12—458A,B–461A,B, 790–793—
Maine Central Railroad7—705–711—
Milwaukee Road10—16A,B–20A,B—
Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad2—101A,B—
Missouri Pacific Railroad977004–7006, 7010–7011, 7014–70177004B, 7010B–7011B, 7014B–7017Brenumbered 13–15, 19–20, 23–26, 13B–15B, 17B–20B
Missouri Pacific Railroad (International-Great Northern Railroad)317007, 7012–70137012Brenumbered 16, 21–22, 16B
Missouri Pacific Railroad (St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway)2—7008–7009—renumbered 17–18
New York Central Railroad36144000–40354100–4113
Pere Marquette Railway8—101–108—
Pennsylvania Railroad46145900A–5901A, 5840A–5883A5840B–5864B (even only), 5900B5900-5901A renumbered to 4200-4201, 5840-5841 to 4240-4241, 5842-5879 to 4202-4239, 5880-5883 to 4242-4245, all to Penn Central same numbers
Seaboard Air Line Railroad3233017–30483105–3107
St. Louis–San Francisco Railway6—2000–2005—Later rebuilt to look like E8's, but retained the same E7 innards
Southern Railway18—2905–2922—
Southern Pacific Company5106000A–6004A6000B,C–6004B,C
1—6017—Model E7m, rebuilt from an E2A at Los Angeles Shops.
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway1—750—to Burlington Northern 9900
Texas and Pacific Railway10—2000–2009—renumbered 1–10
Union Pacific Railroad43959A–960A, 930A–931A961B–963B
Joint UP-C&NW12927A928B–929B
Joint UP-SP-C&NW12907A908B–909B
Wabash Railroad4—1000, 1001,A, 1002—
Total42982

See also

References
  • Dorin, Patrick C. (1972). Chicago and North Western Power. Burbank, California: Superior Publishing. p. 131. ISBN 0-87564-715-4.
  • Lamb, J. Parker (2007). Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive. Railroads Past and Present. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34863-0.
  • Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years: A Guide to Diesels Built Before 1972. Railroad Reference Series. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-258-2.
  • Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. EMD–121–EMD–123. ISBN 978-0-89024-026-7.
  • Schafer, Mike (1998). Vintage Diesel Locomotives. Enthusiast Color Series. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-0507-2.
  • Solomon, Brian (2000). The American Diesel Locomotive. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-7603-0666-6.
  • Solomon, Brian (2006). EMD Locomotives. St. Paul, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2396-0.
  • Solomon, Brian (2010). Vintage Diesel Power. Minneapolis, Minnesota: MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-3795-0.
  • Solomon, Brian (2011). Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America's Favorite Locomotives. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4007-3.
  • Solomon, Brian (2012). North American Locomotives: A Railroad-by-Railroad Photohistory. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4370-8.
  • Wilson, Jeff (2002). E Units: Electro-Motive's Classic Streamliners. Classic Trains / Golden Years of Railroading series. Waukesha, WI, USA: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0890246068.
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