EMD FP7

The EMD FP7 is a 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW), B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant, excepting locomotives destined for Canada, in which case final assembly was at GMD's plant in London, Ontario. The FP7 was essentially EMD's F7A locomotive extended by four feet to give greater water capacity for the steam generator for heating passenger trains.

EMD FP7
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
General Motors Diesel (GMD, Canada)
ModelFP7
Build dateJune 1949 – December 1953
Total produced381
Specifications
Configuration:
  AARB-B
Gauge4 ft 8 12 in (1,435 mm)
TrucksBlomberg B
Wheel diameter40 in (1,016 mm)
Minimum curve23° (250.79 ft or 76.44 m radius)
Wheelbase43 ft (13.11 m)
Length55 ft 2 14 in (16.82 m)
Width10 ft 8 in (3.25 m)
Height15 ft (4.57 m)
Loco weight260,000 lb (120,000 kg)
Fuel capacity1,200 US gal (4,500 L; 1,000 imp gal)
Prime moverEMD 567B
RPM range800
Engine typeTwo-stroke V16 diesel
AspirationRoots-type supercharger
GeneratorEMD D-12
Traction motors(4) EMD D-27-B
Cylinders16
Cylinder size8 12 in × 10 in (216 mm × 254 mm)
Performance figures
Maximum speed100–119 mph (161–192 km/h)
Power output1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW)
Career
LocaleNorth America, Saudi Arabia

Design

While EMD's E-units were successful passenger engines, their A1A-A1A wheel arrangement made them less useful in mountainous terrain. Several railroads had tried EMD's F3 in passenger service, but there was insufficient water capacity in an A-unit fitted with dynamic brakes. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's solution was to replace the steam generators in A-units with a water tank, and so only fitted steam generators into the B-units. The Northern Pacific Railway's solution was to fit extra water tanks into the first baggage car, and to pipe the water to the engines. The real breakthrough came when EMD recognized the problem and added the stretched FP7 to its catalog.

AMTK #113 leading two EMD SDP40Fs with the San Francisco Zephyr at Yuba Gap, 1975

A total of 381 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 diesel locomotives.

F3s, F7s, and F9s equipped for passenger service are not FP-series locomotives, which, although similar in appearance, have distinctive differences. This includes, but not limited to, the greater body length. The extra 4 ft (1.2 m) 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.[1]

Note that over their production run, there were numerous detail changes including the style of side grills (notably on Canadian-built units), carbody louvres, and dynamic brake fan sizing (36" initially, 48" on later production units). Some railroads such as Southern Pacific and Canadian Pacific outfitted their units with rooftop-mounted icicle breakers for protecting dome car windows in mountain territory where icicles formed around the roofs of tunnels.

Original buyers

Locomotives built by EMD at La Grange, Illinois

RailroadQuantity FP7Quantity F7B (where bought with FP7)Road numbers FP7Road numbers F7BNotes
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)
1
2
7001
7002–7003
to Soo Line (Wisconsin Central) 2500A, 2500B, 2501B
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)
1
2
9051
9052–9053
to Soo Line 500A, 500B, 501B
Arabian American Oil Company (Saudi Arabia)
2
1006–1007
Built with 567C engines
Atlanta and West Point Rail Road
4
551–554
Atlantic Coast Line
44
850–893
Alaska Railroad
3
1
1510–1514 (even)
1507
1510-1514 built with 567BC engines
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
11
1600–1609, 1609 2nd
1609 1st destroyed at Mode, IL 6/28/1951 and rebuilt on a new frame with same road number and serial number
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
16
7
8000–8015
8500–8506
Chicago Great Western Railway
3
5
116-A, -C, 116-C 2nd
116-B,D,E,F,G116-C 1st destroyed at North Hanover, IL 6/2/1951 and rebuilt on a new frame with same road number and serial number.
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
10
402–411
Clinchfield Railroad
1
200
repaint into family lines paint then to Seaboard System and renumbered to 118 then To CSX
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
17
7
6300–6309, 6328A–6334A
6328B–6334B
Ferrocarril Sonora–Baja California
2
23035–23036
Florida East Coast Railway
5
571–575
Georgia Railroad
3
1002–1004
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
45
600–634, 663–672
Milwaukee Road
32
16
90A,C–105A,C
90B–105B
90–94 renumbered 60–64 for freight service; 93A (63A) and 104A sold to GO Transit
Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad
8
4
121A,C–124A,C
121B–124B
Northern Pacific Railway
2
6600–6601
Pennsylvania Railroad
40
14
9832A–9871A
9832B–9858B (even)
A units renumbered 4332-4371 and B units 4150-4163 by PRR for Penn Central; 18 scattered A units 4332-4370 to Conrail
Reading Company
8
900–907
900, 902, 903 to SEPTA, renumbered 4371-4373
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
3
1201–1203
St. Louis–San Francisco Railway
12
5040–5051
Soo Line
5
2
501A–503A, 504–505
502B–503B
Soo Line (Wisconsin Central Railway)
1
2501A
Southern Railway (Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway)
20
6130–6149
Southern Pacific Company
16
6446–6461
6446-6451; 6453-6459; 6461 to Amtrak 110-123
St. Louis Southwestern Railway ("Cotton Belt")
1
330
Renumbered to 306 then leased to Southern Pacific as SP 6462
Union Pacific Railroad
2
2
911-912
910B, 910C
Renumbered to 1498 - 1499
Western Railway of Alabama
2
502–503
Western Pacific Railroad
4
2
804A,C–805A,C
804B–805B
Totals32464

Locomotives built by GMD at London, Ontario

RailroadQuantity FP7Quantity F7B
(were bought with FP7)
Road numbers FP7Road numbers F7BNotes
Canadian Pacific Railway
35
29
4028–4041, 4058–4063, 4066–4075, 4099–4103
4424–4448, 4459–4462
Some renumbered as 1400- and 1900- series passenger units, some later resold to VIA Rail in 1978.
Ontario Northland Railway
22
1500–1521
1500, 1503-1505, 1507, 1511-1514 converted into HEP control cars for GO Transit
Totals5729

Preserved examples

See also

References

Notes

  1. Foster, Gerald L. (1996). A Field Guide to Trains of North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
  2. "Home". Hub City Heritage Corporation Railway Museum.
  3. "Beadle Park – Cresco, Iowa". Iowa Beautiful.

Bibliography

  • Dorin, Patrick C. (1972). Chicago and North Western Power. Burbank, California: Superior Publishing. pp. 123–127. 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. 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 (2005). EMD F-Unit Locomotives. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press. ISBN 978-1-58007-192-5.
  • 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 (1999). F Units: The Diesels That Did It. Golden Years of Railroading. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-374-9.
  • EMD Product Reference Data Card dated January 1, 1959 has the 567BC and 567C engine data used in the as-built roster.


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