EMD GP9

EMD GP9
An EMD GP9 equipped with dynamic brakes on the Shenandoah Valley Railroad in Staunton, VA.
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) General Motors Diesel (GMD) Build date January 1954 – August 1963 Total produced 4,112 (and 165 B units)
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR B-B Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Trucks EMD Bloomberg B (Flexicoil on some CN units) Wheel diameter 40 in (1.016 m) Minimum curve 21° (273 ft (83.21 m) radius) Wheelbase 40 ft (12.19 m) Length 56 ft 2 in (17.12 m) Width 10 ft 3+1⁄2 in (3.14 m) Height 15 ft 1⁄2 in (4.58 m) Loco weight 259,500 lb (117,700 kg) Fuel capacity 1,100 US gal (4,200 L; 920 imp gal) Prime mover EMD 567C RPM range 835 max Engine type V16 Two-stroke diesel Aspiration Roots-type supercharger Displacement 9,072 cu in (148.66 L) Generator EMD D-12-B Traction motors (4) EMD D-37-B Cylinders 16 Cylinder size 8+1⁄2 in × 10 in (216 mm × 254 mm)
Performance figures Power output 1,750 hp (1.30 MW) Tractive effort 64,750 lbf (288.0 kN)
Career Locale North America, South America

An EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division in the United States, and General Motors Diesel in Canada between January, 1954, and August, 1963. US production ended in December, 1959, while an additional thirteen units were built in Canada, including the last two in August, 1963. Power was provided by an EMD 567C sixteen-cylinder engine which generated 1,750 horsepower (1.30 MW). This locomotive type was offered both with and without control cabs; locomotives built without control cabs were called GP9B locomotives. All GP9B locomotives were built in the United States between February, 1954, and December, 1959.

Production

A total of 3,441 units of this locomotive model were built for American railroads, with an additional 646 for Canadian railroads and 10 for Mexican railroads. 5 units were built for a railroad in Brazil, 4 units were built for a railroad in Peru and 6 units were built for a railroad in Venezuela. Of the GP9B, 165 examples were built for American railroads.

Rebuilds

Two GP15Cs with the Red River Valley and Western Railroad.

There were 40 GP9M units built that are included in the 3,441 units built for United States railroads. A GP9M was built with parts from another older EMD locomotive, either an F unit or a damaged GP7. The use of parts from these older locomotives caused the GP9Ms to have a lower power rating than a GP9. This would be either 1,350 horsepower (1.01 MW) if the donor locomotive was an FT/F2 or 1,500 horsepower (1.12 MW) from F3/F7/GP7 locomotives.

Many rebuilt GP9s remain in service today with shortline railroads and industrial operators. Some remain in rebuilt form on some major Class I railroads, as switcher locomotives. Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railway still have many in their fleets in 2012 as switcher locomotives.

Several GP9s were rebuilt with a 1,500 horsepower (1.12 MW) CAT 3512 and re-classified as GP15C.

Original buyers

GP9 locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)	1	7257	to Western Maryland 33
Araraquara Railway, Brazil	5	1001–1005	5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm)
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway	52	700–751
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	194	675–696, 747–752, 3413–3425, 6447–6598, 6498:2	6513, 6554 now Greenville & Western 3751, 3752
Bangor and Aroostook Railroad	5	76–80
Belt Railway of Chicago	3	471, 480, 481	471 is a GP9M
Boston and Maine Railroad	50	1700–1749	Remaining units to Guilford Rail System. The last 3 GP9s are on Pan Am Railways.
Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway	4	104–107
Central of Georgia Railway	11	160–170
Central Railroad of New Jersey	2	1531, 1532	GP9M
Central Vermont Railway	18	4547–4557, 4923–4929
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway	363	5901–6263
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad	8	221, 229, 233–238	221, 229 are GP9Ms
Chicago and North Western Railway	59	1711–1720, 1725–1773
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	20	270-289
Chicago Great Western	1	120	GP9M
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road”)	128	280–331, 2368–2443	2368–2443 renumbered 200–279 (not in sequence).
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	21	1312–1332
Clinchfield Railroad	2	917, 918
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad	24	5901–5904, 5911–5914, 5921–5924, 5931–5934, 5941–5944, 5951–5954
Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad	13	980–992
Erie Railroad	6	1260–1265
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México	10	6602, 7101–7107, 7101:2, 7102:2
Florida East Coast Railway	26	651–676
Georgia Railroad	3	1040–1042
Grand Trunk Railway	16	4442–4450, 4558-4559, 4902–4906	Grand Trunk Railway has since rebuilt the 4900s into GP9Rs and renumbered them into the 4600s with chopped noses. Some of the 4600s have since sold, majority still reside with the CN ether in CN paint or GT paint.
Grand Trunk Western Railroad	51	1751-1767, 4134–4139, 4539–4546, 4907–4922, 4930–4933
Great Northern Railway	95	656–734, 900–915	900's are 1,350 hp (1,010 kW) GP9M. 733, 734 are 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) GP9Ms
Illinois Central Railroad	348	9000–9257, 9300–9389
Kansas City Southern Railway	4	162–165	162 is a GP9M
Lehigh Valley Railroad	2	300, 301
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	32	437, 441–459, 511, 513, 515–522, 553–554	437, 511, 513 are GP9Ms
Meridian and Bigbee Railroad	1	102
Midland Valley Railroad	2	152, 153	GP9M
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway	23	600–608, 700–713	600's are 1,350 hp (1,010 kW) GP9M
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (“Soo Line”)	24	400–414, 550–558	400's freight; 550's passenger.
Soo Line (Wisconsin Central Railroad)	21	2400–2413, 2550–2556	2400s freight; 2550s passenger.
Mississippi Export Railroad	1	60
Missouri Pacific Railroad	40	4332–4371
New York Central Railroad	160	5904–6028, 6041–6075
New York Central (Cleveland Union Terminal)	4	5900–5903
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (“Nickel Plate Road”)	107	448–534, 800–814, 448:2, 482:2, 496:2, 497:2, 503:2
New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad	30	1200–1229
Norfolk and Western Railway	306	10–13, 506–521, 620–699, 714–914, 813:2, 817:2, 799:2, 800:2, 805:2
Northern Pacific Railway	176	200–375	To Burlington Northern. Some have been rebuilt to GP28 standards and are called GP28Ms.
Pennsylvania Railroad	270	7000–7269
Phelps Dodge Corporation (Morenci Mine)	14	30–43
Phelps Dodge Corporation (New Cornelia Branch Mine)	3	21–23
Seaboard Air Line Railroad	58	1798, 1801, 1900–1929, 1954–1979	1798, 1801 are GP9Ms
Southern Railway	2	2500, 2501
Southern Railway (Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway	5	6245–6249
Southern Railway (Georgia Southern and Florida Railway)	2	8214, 8215
Southern Railway (Live Oak, Perry and Gulf Railroad)	2	302, 303
Southern Railway (New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad)	2	6898, 6899
Southern Pacific Company	255	5600–5719, 5730–5844, 5872–5891	5872 - 5891 built with low-short-hoods.
Southern Pacific (Texas and New Orleans Railroad)	73	240–249, 280–283, 400–458
Southern Peru Copper Corporation	4	20–23
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway	6	150–155	150-153 had steam boilers; to BN 1975-1980
St. Louis Southwestern Railway (“Cotton Belt”)	12	820–831
Texas and Pacific Railway	14	1131–1144
Texas Mexican Railway	1	853
Union Pacific Railroad	219	130–248, 250–349
Venezuelan National Railways	6	001–006
Wabash Railroad	12	484, 495
Western Maryland Railway	20	25–32,34-45	All custom fitted with low short hood at Hagerstown shops. EMD demo 7257 became WM 33.
Western Pacific Railroad	8	725–732
Western Railway of Alabama	2	530, 531
Winston-Salem Southbound Railway	4	1501–1504	2 to Norfolk and Western Railway, 2 to Atlantic Coast Line Railroad.
Total	3466

GP9 locomotives built by General Motors Diesel, Canada

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
Algoma Central Railway	2	171–172	Last GP9's built
Canadian National Railways	349	1724–1750, 2000–2024, 4100–4133, 4147–4156, 4228–4353, 4476–4538, 4560–4609, 4588–4601:2
Canadian Pacific Railway	200	8483–8546, 8611–8708, 8801–8823, 8825-8839
Quebec Cartier Mining	9	1–9	Built with low-short-hoods.
Midland Railway Company of Manitoba	1	2	to Burlington Northern Manitoba Limited 2, then BNSF 1685
New York Central Railroad	12	6029–6040
Northern Alberta Railways	10	201–210
Ontario Northland Railway	6	1600–1605
Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway	54	124–177
Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway	3	401–403
Total	646

GP9B locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA

BNSF #1700, a GP9 "B" unit.

Railroad	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
Pennsylvania Railroad	40	7175B–7204B, 7230B–7239B
Union Pacific Railroad	125	130B–204B, 300B–349B
Total	165

Preservation

Several GP9 locomotives have been preserved at various railroad museums and as "park engines." The Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola, California rosters three of these units: Western Pacific Railroad 725 and 731, as well as Southern Pacific Railroad 2873, still painted in the Southern Pacific Santa Fe Railroad merger scheme. SP 2873 is a popular locomotive in the museum's Run a Locomotive program. There is also one on display at the Horseshoe Curve, Pennsylvania Railroad No. 7048. No. 7048 replaced K4s Pacific #1361 which in 1986 was removed from the site and rebuilt to haul excursion trains.

• 
  CN GP9 leads a train up Yellowhead Pass.
• 
  An MBTA GP9 locomotive making a non-revenue move into South Station in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 
  A modified EMD GP9 of the Seminole Gulf Railway, Fort Myers, Florida.
• 
  This CN rebuilt GP9 GTW 4621 is sitting in front of Cytec Industries in Kalamazoo,MI.
• 
  This GTW rebuilt GP9 4619 is heading south on the Kalamazoo spur in Kalamazoo, MI.
• 
  An example of a BN GP28M rebuild
• 
  Former BNSF 1685 high hood GP9 sitting in the Prairie Dog Central Yard. This was the last GP9 on the BNSF roster.

Current operators

The Northwestern Pacific Railroad rosters an ex-Burlington Northern GP9, now in the NWP's "Bloody Nose" paint scheme, for mainly switching and MOW operations in Northern California. The Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad operates a former N&W GP9, now numbered 626. Its home yard is the Bradford, PA yard. The California Western Railroad, better known as the "Skunk Train," has three GP9s in their fleet.

In the mid 1980s to early 1990s Guilford Rail System (now Pan Am Railways) started painting and renumbering their GP9 fleet into the Guilford Transportation scheme with the Springfield Terminal name on the side. Pan Am Railways still rosters 6 of the 50 GP9s that are left, the rest either having been scrapped or sold. The last 6 GP9s still rostered on PAR are 51, 52, 62, 71, 72, and 77. The 77 was painted into the Boston and Maine maroon and gold "Minuteman" scheme for Pan Am's heritage fleet, and the 52 was painted in the Maine Central green scheme.

The Hartwell Railroad operates former Chicago and North Western GP9 4556, née Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 1315.

The Vintage Locomotive Society currently operates two GP9 locomotives: No. 4138 was built by General Motors Diesel (GMD) in November 1958 for the Grand Trunk Western (which eventually became part of Canadian National Railway). It was donated by CN to the Society in August 2002. 4138 is used on the Prairie Dog Central Railway in regular service and in some charter service. It acts as backup power should steam locomotive No. 3 be unavailable. No. 1685 was built by General Motors Diesel (GMD) in March 1957 for the Midland Railway Company of Manitoba as locomotive No. 2 (which became Burlington Northern Manitoba Limited No. 2, then BNSF No. 1685). It was donated to the Society by BNSF in July 2010. 1685 is used on the Prairie Dog Central Railway in regular service and in some charter service. It also acts as backup power should steam locomotive No. 3 or 4138 be unavailable.

Other operators include:

• Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway
• Central Montana Rail (ex. Great Northern, still operate high nose, long-hood forward)
• Montana Rail Link
• Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway - ex-Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and ex-Canadian Pacific Railway
• Adrian & Blissfield Railroad
• Leadville, Colorado and Southern Railroad
• Ontario Northland Railway
• The Grafton & Upton Railroad (MA)

See also

• List of GM-EMD locomotives
• List of GMD Locomotives

References

• "The History of EMD Diesel Engines". Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. Retrieved December 14, 2005.
• Dorin, Patrick C. (1972). Chicago and North Western Power. Superior Publishing. pp. 108–110. ISBN 0-87564-715-4.
• Kristopans, Andre http://community-1.webtv.net/ajkristopans/ROADSWITCHERS567/page2.html
• Kristopans, Andre J. http://community-2.webtv.net/ajkristopans/ANDRESGMLOCOMOTIVE/page2.html has the export GP9s toward the bottom of the page.
• Kristopans, Andre J. http://community-2.webtv.net/ajkristopans/GENERALMOTORSDIESEL/ has the Canadian GP9 serial numbers.
• Pinkpank, Jerry A (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide. Kalmbach Books. pp. 12, 26, 52–56. ISBN 0-89024-026-4. LCCN 66-22894.
• Extra 2200 South, Issue no.48, Sep-Oct 1974
• Extra 2200 South, Issue no.49, Nov-Dec 1974

External links

• The Diesel Shop GP9 Data sheet