EMD FP7

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. 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.

Original owners

Of the total of 378, 299 were built for customers in the United States, 57 for Canada, 18 for Mexico, and two for export to Saudi Arabia.

United States

• Atlanta and West Point Railroad: 4 locomotives, #551–554
• Atlantic Coast Line: 44 locomotives, #850–893
• Alaska Railroad: 3 locomotives, #1510, 1512, 1514
• Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad: 10 locomotives, #1600–1609
• Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad: 16 locomotives, #8000–8015
• Chicago Great Western Railway: 2 locomotives, #116A,C
• Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad: 10 locomotives, #402–411
• Clinchfield Railroad: 1 locomotive, #200
• Florida East Coast Railway: 5 locomotives, #571–575
• Georgia Railroad: 3 locomotives, #1002–1004
• Louisville and Nashville Railroad: 45 locomotives, #600–634, 663–672
• Milwaukee Road: 32 locomotives, #90A,C-105A,C
• Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad: 8 locomotives, #121A,C-124A,C
• Northern Pacific Railway: 2 locomotives, 6600–6601
• Pennsylvania Railroad: 40 locomotives, #9832–9871
• Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad: 3 locomotives, #1201–1203
• Reading Railroad: 8 locomotives, #900–907
• St. Louis and San Francisco Railway: 12 locomotives, #5040–5051
• Soo Line Railroad: 8 locomotives, #500A-503A, 502C, 503C, 2500A, 2501A
• Southern Railway: 20 locomotives, #6130–6149
• Southern Pacific Railroad: 16 locomotives, #6446–6461
• St. Louis Southwestern Railway: 1 locomotive, #306
• Union Pacific Railroad: 2 locomotives, #911–912
• Western Railway of Alabama: #502–503
• Western Pacific Railroad: 4 locomotives, #804A,C-805A,C

Canada

• Canadian Pacific Railway: 35 locomotives, #4027–4041, 4058–4063, 4066–4075, 4099–4103
• Ontario Northland Railway: 22 locomotives, #1500–1521

Mexico

• Ferrocarril Nacionales de Mexico: 16 locomotives, #6300A-6308A, 6328A-6334A
• Ferrocarril Sonora-Baja California: 2 locomotives, #23035,23036

Others

• Saudi Oil: 2 locomotives, #1006,1007

References

• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach Books, Waukesha, WI. ISBN 0–89024–026–4.
• jaydeet@inna.net. EMD's FP7 – Original Owners. Retrieved on January 4, 2005.