Diesel of the Day 7/8: EMD GP7

For today, we have an early model that helped establish the versatility of the diesel: the EMD GP7. ‘GP’ stands for General Purpose, and that’s just what this diesel was built for. It was basic and simple in appearance, and could be used for anything from hauling mainline freight to transfers between facilities to switching cars in the yard. They could even be fitted with steam generators inside the high nose so they could pull passenger trains. The GP7 is powered by an EMD 16-567B 1,500 horsepower two-stroke supercharged V16. EMD originally designed this diesel to be visually unappetizing on purpose, so railroads wouldn’t put them on mainline trains and instead use them inside yards, but railroads soon put them on just about every train, and they became a best seller, with 2,729 sold between 1949 and 1954. They often replaced steam locomotives in yard switching duties. Personally, I think it has a nice utilitarian look to it, that stands the test of time. Indeed, over a thousand of the original production are still running around on shortline railroads across the country, and they’re also popular power for tourist and museum trains. Speaking of museum trains, that’s where today’s photo comes from: ex-Georgia Railroad number 1026 lives at the Southeastern Railway Museum in Duluth, Georgia, and has been visited several times by Fenris, my big inflatable wolf. He loves playing engineer!