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EMD GP9

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"GP9" redirects here. For the human gene, see Glycoprotein IX.
EMD GP9
An EMD GP9 equipped with dynamic brakes on the Shenandoah Valley Railroad in Staunton, Virginia.
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
General Motors Diesel (GMD)
ModelGP9
Build date1954 – 1963
Total produced4,272 (and 165 B units)
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • AARB-B
 • UICBo'Bo'
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm) (Brazil)
TrucksEMD Blomberg B (Flexicoil on some CN units)
Wheel diameter40 in (1.016 m)
Minimum curve21° (273 ft (83.21 m) radius)
Wheelbase40 ft (12.19 m)
Length56 ft 2 in (17.12 m)
Width10 ft 3+1⁄2 in (3.14 m)
Height15 ft 1⁄2 in (4.58 m)
Loco weight259,500 lb (117,700 kg)
Fuel capacity1,100 US gal (4,200 L; 920 imp gal)
Prime moverEMD 16-567C
RPM range835 max
Engine typeV16 Two-stroke diesel
AspirationRoots blower
Displacement9,072 cu in (148.66 L)
GeneratorEMD D-12-B
Traction motors(4) EMD D-37-B
Cylinders16
Cylinder size8+1⁄2 in × 10 in (216 mm × 254 mm)
Performance figures
Maximum speed65 mph (105 km/h)
Power output1,750 hp (1.30 MW)
Tractive effort64,750 lbf (288.0 kN)
Career
LocaleNorth America, South America

The EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1954 and 1963. The GP9 succeeded the GP7 as the second model of EMD's General Purpose (GP) line,[1] incorporating a new sixteen-cylinder engine which generated 1,750 horsepower (1.30 MW).[2] This locomotive type was offered both with and without control cabs; locomotives built without control cabs were called GP9B locomotives.

EMD constructed 3,626 GP9s, including 165 GP9Bs.[3][4] An additional 646 GP9s were built by General Motors Diesel, EMD's Canadian subsidiary, for a total of 4,257 GP9s produced when Canadian production ended in 1963.[3] The GP9 was succeeded by the similar but slightly more powerful GP18.[5]

Design and production

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EMD designed the GP9 as an improved version of the GP7, with an increase in power from 1,500 hp to 1,750 hp, and a change in prime mover to the latest version of the 567 engine, the 567C.[5] Externally, the GP9 strongly resembled its predecessor. Most were built with high short hoods, but the Southern Pacific ordered a number with low short hoods for improved crew visibility.[5]

EMD built GP9s at its LaGrange, Illinois facility until 1959, when American production was ended in favor of the GP18.[5] GMD production in Canada continued until August 1963, when the final GP9 was produced.[3]

Original buyers

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Locomotives built by Electro-Motive Division, USA

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Owner Quantity Model Numbers Notes
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway 52 GP9 700-751
Brazil 5 GP9 1001-1005
Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway 4 GP9 104-107
Bangor and Aroostook Railroad 5 GP9 76-80
Boston and Maine Railroad 50 GP9 1700-1749
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 194 GP9 675-696, 747-752, 3413-3425, 6447-6598, 6498 (2nd)
Belt Railway of Chicago 3 GP9 471, 480, 481
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad 20 GP9 270-289
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad 8 GP9 221, 229, 233-238
Central of Georgia Railway 11 GP9 160-170
Chicago Great Western Railway 1 GP9 120
Chicago and North Western Railway 59 GP9 1711-1720, 1725-1773
Central Railroad of New Jersey 2 GP9 1531-1532
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 363 GP9 5901-6263
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific 2 GP9 917-918
Central Vermont 65 GP9 1751-1767, 4134-4139, 4442-4450, 4539-4559, 4902-4906, 4923-4929
Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad 13 GP9 980-992
Electro-Motive Division 1 GP9 7257
Erie Railroad 6 GP9 1260-1265
Florida East Coast Railway 26 GP9 651-676
Georgia and Florida Railroad 3 GP9 1040-1042
Illinois Central Railroad 355 GP9 9000-9257, 9300-9389
Kansas City Southern Railway 4 GP9 162-165
Louisville and Nashville Railroad 32 GP9 441-459, 511-513, 515-522, 553-554
Lehigh Valley 2 GP9 300-301
Great Northern Railway 96 GP9 656-734, 900-915 [6]
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad 24 GP9 5901-5904, 5911-5914, 5921-5924, 5931-5934, 5941-5944, 5951-5954 [7]
Mexico 10 GP9 6602, 7101-7107, 7101(2nd)-7102(2nd)
Meridian and Bigbee Railroad 1 GP9 102
Midland Valley Railroad 2 GP9 152-153
Milwaukee Road 128 GP9 280-331, 2368-2433
Missouri Pacific Railroad 40 GP9 4332-4371
Mississippi Export Railroad Company 1 GP9 60
Minneapolis & St Louisr 23 GP9 600-608, 700-713
New Haven & Hartford 30 GP9 1200-1229
Nickel Plate 107 GP9 448-534, 800-814, 448 (2nd), 496 (2nd), 497 (2nd), 503 (2nd), 482 (2nd)
Northern Pacific 176 GP9 200-375
Norfolk & Western 306 GP9 10-13, 506-521, 620-699, 714-914, 799 (2nd), 800 (2nd), 805 (2nd), 813 (2nd), 817 (2nd)
New York Centralr 164 GP9 5900-6028, 6041-6075
Southern Peru Copper 4 GP9 20-23
PHDX 17 GP9 21-23, 30-43
Pennsylvania Railroad 270 GP9 7000-7269
40 GP9B 7175B-7204B, 7230B-7239B
Rock Island & Pacific 21 GP9 1312-1332
Seaboard Air Line Railroad 58 GP9 1798, 1801, 1900-1929, 1954-1979
Soo Liner 45 GP9 400-414, 550-558, 2400-2413, 2550-2556
Southern Railway 13 GP9 302-303, 2500-2501, 6245-6249, 6898-6899, 8214-8215
Southern Pacific Company 328 GP9 240-249, 280-283, 400-458, 5600-5719, 5730-5844, 5872-5891
Spokane Portland & Seattle 6 GP9 150-155
St. Louis Southwestern Railway 12 GP9 820-831
Texas Mexican Railway 1 GP9 853
Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway 14 GP9 1131-1144
Union Pacific Railroad 219 GP9 130-248, 250-349
125 GP9B 130B-204B, 300B-349B
Venezuela Nat'l Ry 6 GP9 1-6
Western Railway of Alabama 2 GP9 530-531
Wabash 12 GP9 484-495
Western Maryland Railway 20 GP9 25-32, 34-45
Western Pacific Railroad 8 GP9 725-732
WSSB 4 GP9 1501-1504

Locomotives built by General Motors Diesel, Canada

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Owner Quantity Model Numbers Notes
ACR 2 GP9 171-172
Canadian National 349 GP9 1724-1750, 2000-2024, 4100-4133, 4147-4156, 4228-4353, 4476-4538, 4560- 4609, 4588 (2nd)-4601 (2nd)
Canadiam Pacific 200 GP9 8483-8546, 8611-8708, 8801-8823, 8825-8839

Rebuilds

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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 although most Class 1 railroads stopped using these locomotives by the 1980s. Canadian National still had 29[8] GP9RM locomotives in operation, as of 2022. Canadian Pacific had many GP9u locomotives in operation; however, they were all retired in 2015.

EMD GP15C

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

EMD GP10

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Main article: EMD GP10

The Illinois Central Railroad rebuilt some of its GP9s with their front (short) hood reduced in height for improved crew visibility. The IC designated these rebuilt locomotives GP10.

EMD GP20C-ECO

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A Canadian Pacific Railway EMD GP20C-ECO, the product of a GP9 rebuild.

EMD has rebuilt and continues to rebuild GP9s into what it calls the GP20C-ECO, which is repowered with an EMD 8-710-G3A engine in place of the original 567 prime mover.[9]

SP GP9E and GP9R

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Between April 1970 and March 1979, the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (also known as the "Cotton Belt Route") and the Southern Pacific Transportation Company had rebuilt the majority of their EMD GP9 locomotives into SP GP9E and GP9R locomotives.

Preservation

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At least 23 GP9 locomotives have been preserved at various railroad museums, as "park engines", and as excursion engines according to The Diesel Shop:

  • B&O 6607, originally numbered 3414, is at the B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, in operating condition.[10]
  • Southern Pacific 3194, a GP9R rebuild built as Texas and New Orleans 281, is at the Golden Gate RR Museum, California. It is in operating condition.[11]
  • Northern Pacific 245 preserved at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, currently painted as North Shore Scenic Railroad 245.[12]
  • Norfolk & Western 514 was donated to the Roanoke Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society in August 2024. This locomotive is one of two surviving unrebuilt former N&W GP9s. [13]
For a complete list, see List of preserved EMD GP9 locomotives.
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See also

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References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to EMD GP9 locomotives.
  1. ^ Schafer, Mike. (1996-11-08). Classic American railroads. Osceola, WI. p. 103. ISBN 0760302391. OCLC 35033722.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Foster, Gerald L. (1996). "EMD GP9". A field guide to trains of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 28. ISBN 0395701120. OCLC 33242919.
  3. ^ a b c Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel locomotives : the first 50 years : a guide to diesels built before 1972. Waukesha, WI: Kalmbach Pub. Co. pp. 46–50. ISBN 0-89024-258-5. OCLC 34531120.
  4. ^ Wilson, Jeff (2017). Guide to North American diesel locomotives. Waukesha, Wisconsin. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-62700-455-8. OCLC 992348779.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ a b c d Schafer, Mike (1998). Vintage diesel locomotives. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International. p. 37. ISBN 0-7603-0507-2. OCLC 38738930.
  6. ^ "Great Northern Empire - Then and Now". www.greatnorthernempire.net. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  7. ^ "DRGW.Net | D&RGW EMD GP9 Roster". www.drgw.net. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  8. ^ Canadian Trackside Guide 2022. Ottawa: The Bytown Railway Society. 2022. pp. 1–39.
  9. ^ "Repowered Locomotives". Progress Rail. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  10. ^ "B&O No.6607". B&O Railroad Museum. Archived from the original on 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  11. ^ "GGRM: Collection". www.ggrm.org. Retrieved 2021-08-10.
  12. ^ "Diesel Locomotives". Lake Superior Railroad Museum. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  13. ^ "Norfolk & Western GP9 Saved for Preservation".

Bibliography

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  • "The History of EMD Diesel Engines". Pacific Southwest Railway Museum. Archived from the original on July 22, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2005.
  • Dorin, Patrick C. (1972). Chicago and North Western Power. Burbank, California: Superior Publishing. pp. 108–110. ISBN 0-87564-715-4.
  • 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. 32, January–February 1972 Early Geep Tally- Part II
  • Extra 2200 South, Issue no.48, Sep-Oct 1974
  • Extra 2200 South, Issue no.49, Nov-Dec 1974
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