EMD FP7
Western Pacific 805-A, an EMD FP7, pulls the California Zephyr in March 1970
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+1⁄2 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+1⁄4 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+1⁄2 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

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.

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. EMD's solution to the problem was to add the stretched FP7 to its catalog increasing the water storage capacity.

AMTK No. 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]

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 in [0.91 m] initially, 48 in [1.2 m] 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)1270017002–7003to Soo Line (Wisconsin Central) 2500A, 2500B, 2501B
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)1290519052–9053to Soo Line 500A, 500B, 501B
Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco; Saudi Arabia)2—1006–1007—Built with 567C engines; later handed over to Saudi Government Railways
Atlanta and West Point Rail Road4—551–554—
Atlantic Coast Line44—850–893—
Alaska Railroad311510–1514 (even)15071510-1514 built with 567BC engines
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad11—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 Railway1678000–80158500–8506
Chicago Great Western Railway35116-A, -C, 116-C 2nd116-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 Railroad10—402–411—
Clinchfield Railroad1—200—repaint into family lines paint then to Seaboard System and renumbered to 118 then To CSX
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México1776300–6309, 6328A–6334A6328B–6334B
Ferrocarril Sonora–Baja California2—23035–23036—
Florida East Coast Railway5—571–575—
Georgia Railroad3—1002–1004
Louisville and Nashville Railroad45600–634, 663–672
Milwaukee Road321690A,C–105A,C90B–105B90–94 renumbered 60–64 for freight service; 93A (63A) and 104A sold to GO Transit 96A sold to Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad re-entered service 2020
Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad84121A,C–124A,C121B–124B
Northern Pacific Railway2—6600–6601—
Pennsylvania Railroad40149832A–9871A9832B–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 Company8—900–907—900, 902, 903 to SEPTA, renumbered 4371-4373
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad3—1201–1203—
St. Louis–San Francisco Railway12—5040–5051—
Soo Line52501A–503A, 504–505502B–503B
Soo Line (Wisconsin Central Railway)1–2501A—
Southern Railway (Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway)206130–6149
Southern Pacific Company166446–64616446–6451; 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 Railroad22911-912910B, 910CRenumbered to 1498 - 1499
Western Railway of Alabama2–502–503—
Western Pacific Railroad42804A,C–805A,C804B–805B
Totals32464

Locomotives built by GMD at London, Ontario

RailroadQuantity FP7Quantity F7B
(were bought with FP7)		Road numbers FP7Road numbers F7BNotes
Canadian Pacific Railway35294028–4041, 4058–4063, 4066–4075, 4099–41034424–4448, 4459–4462Some renumbered as 1400- and 1900- series passenger units, some later resold to Via Rail in 1978.
Ontario Northland Railway22—1500–1521—1500, 1503–1505, 1507, 1511-1514 converted into HEP control cars for GO Transit
Totals5729

Preserved examples

Reading 902 at Steamtown National Historic Site
CP 4038 in Minnedosa, Manitoba

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Foster, Gerald L. (1996). A field guide to trains of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 98. ISBN 0-395-70112-0.
  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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