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30-515: This was the first model in EMD's SD ( S pecial D uty) series of locomotives, a lengthened B-B GP7 with a C-C truck arrangement. The two extra axles and traction motors are useful in heavy, low-speed freight service. EMD continues to produce SD series locomotives to this day. Some SD7s both high and short-hood can still be found in service today on shortline railroads and industrial operators, although most Class I roads stopped using these locomotives by

60-618: A Class I railroad was used until January 1, 1956, when the figure was increased to $ 3 million. In 1956, the ICC counted 113 Class I line-haul operating railroads (excluding "3 class I companies in systems") and 309 Class II railroads (excluding "3 class II companies in systems"). The Class III category was dropped in 1956 but reinstated in 1978. By 1963, the number of Class I railroads had dropped to 102; cutoffs were increased to $ 5 million by 1965, to $ 10 million in 1976 and to $ 50 million in 1978, at which point only 41 railroads qualified as Class I. In

90-626: A rebuilt "Paducah Geep" was designated a GP8 or GP10 depending on the power output of the rebuilt engine, not necessarily what it was rebuilt from). In 1960 the Alaska Railroad purchased a dozen GP7Ls from the US Army and rebuilt eleven of them in 1965 with low short hoods for better visual clearance. One of the ten remaining Alaska GP7s was rebuilt by Morrison-Knudsen in 1976. The other nine units were rebuilt at Paducah Shops in 1976-1977. Canadian Pacific Railway rebuilt their GP7 fleet in

120-419: A solid skirt above the fuel tank, while late GP7s and early GP9s had access holes in the skirt (see photo of Illinois Terminal 1605, top left). Many railroads later removed most of the skirt to improve access and inspection. Locomotives could be built with the engineer ’s control stand installed for either the long hood, or the short hood designated as the front. Two control stands for either direction running

150-531: A special move in 1979, all switching and terminal railroads were re-designated Class III — even those with Class I or Class II revenues. In early 1991, two Class II railroads, Montana Rail Link and Wisconsin Central , asked the ICC to increase the minimum annual operating revenue criteria (then established at US$ 93.5 million) to avoid being redesignated as Class I, which would have resulted in increased administrative and legal costs. The Class II maximum criterion

180-477: A total of 26 SD7s were produced which used either the 567BC engine or the 567C engine. SD7s were originally set up to run long hood forward, usually noted by the letter "F" painted adjacent to the top step of the long hood boarding steps. Many were later changed or upgraded to run short hood forward as is today's Association of American Railroads standard. EMD ended production in November 1953 and began producing

210-468: Is a four-axle ( B-B ) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October 1949 and May 1954. The GP7 was the first EMD road locomotive to use a hood unit design instead of a car-body design. This proved to be more efficient than the car body design as the hood unit cost less to build, was cheaper and easier to maintain, and had much better front and rear visibility for switching. Power

240-501: The Alabama and Gulf Coast Railway . Class III railroads are typically local shortline railroads serving a small number of towns and industries or hauling cars for one or more railroads; often, they once had been branch lines of larger railroads or even abandoned portions of main lines. Some Class III railroads are owned by railroad holding companies such as Genesee & Wyoming or Watco . Some examples of Class III railroads would be

270-631: The "7" had no meaning other than matching the EMD F7 cab unit then in production. The GP7, GP9 and GP18 locomotives share a similar car-body that evolved over time. Most GP7s had three sets of ventilation grills under the cab (where the GP9 only had one), and two pair of grills at the end of the long hood (where only the pair nearest the end was retained on the GP9). However, some late GP7s were built with car-bodies that were identical to early GP9s. Early GP7s had

300-561: The 14 months it was in production. Its replacement, the GP7, swapped the truss-framed stressed car body for an un-stressed body on a frame made from flat, formed and rolled structural steel members and steel forgings welded into a single structure (a "weldment"), a basic design which is still being employed today. In heavy service, the GP7’s frame would bow and sag over time. This defect was corrected in later models. The GP7 proved very popular, and EMD

330-578: The 1970s and 1980s. The SD7 was conceived as a modification of the existing EMD GP7 with two additional powered axles, one for each truck . Providing two more axles served two purposes: it gave the locomotive more tractive effort compared to the four-axle GP7, and it distributed the locomotive's weight more evenly. EMD produced its first examples of the SD7 in May 1951, using the 567B engine. Starting in August 1953

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360-512: The C&;O and Wabash who owned and operated over trackage in Canada (specifically the southern Ontario area). There are five GP7s on A J Kristopan's EMD Serial number page that reused previous serial numbers: B&O 6405 (preserved), CRI&P 1308 (2nd), L&N 501 (2nd) and 502 (2nd), and SLSF 615 (2nd). These rebuilt units were rebuilt as new on new frames. Another rebuild by GMD is that CN 4824

390-522: The Mississippi River. Canadian Pacific Kansas City , doing business as CPKC, runs from southern Canada, then goes south through the central United States to central Mexico. In addition, the national passenger railroads in the US and Canada— Amtrak and Via Rail —would both qualify as Class I if they were freight carriers. Mexico's Ferromex would qualify as a Class I railroad if it had trackage in

420-599: The SD7's successor, the SD9 , in January 1954. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company had rebuilt a total of 42 of their SD7 locomotives into the EMD SD7R. They were numbered 1500–1542. The rebuilds had also included upgrades to the electrical systems , traction motors , as well as a changeout of the prime movers swapping the 16-cylinder 567B prime movers with 16-cylinder 645CE prime movers. EMD GP7 The EMD GP7

450-695: The United States. A Class II railroad in the United States hauls freight and is mid-sized in terms of operating revenue. Switching and terminal railroads are excluded from Class II status. Railroads considered by the Association of American Railroads as "Regional Railroads" are typically Class II. Some examples of Class II railroads would be the Florida East Coast Railway , the Iowa Interstate Railroad , and

480-541: The United States. Initially (in 1911) the former federal agency Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) classified railroads by their annual gross revenue . Class I railroads had an annual operating revenue of at least $ 1 million, while Class III railroad incomes were under $ 100,000. Railroads in both classes were subject to reporting requirements on a quarterly or annual schedule. In 1925, the ICC reported 174 Class I railroads, 282 Class II railroads, and 348 Class III railroads. The $ 1 million criterion established in 1911 for

510-597: The United States: BNSF Railway , CSX Transportation , Canadian National Railway , CPKC , Norfolk Southern Railway , and Union Pacific Railroad . Canadian National also operates in Canada and CPKC operates in Canada and Mexico. In addition, the national passenger railroad in the United States, Amtrak , would qualify as Class I if it were a freight carrier, as would Canada's Via Rail passenger service. Mexico 's Ferromex freight railroad would also qualify as Class I, but it does not operate within

540-425: The carrier's annual revenue. The thresholds, last adjusted for inflation in 2019, are: In Canada , a Class I rail carrier is defined (as of 2004 ) as a company that has earned gross revenues exceeding $ 250 million (CAD) for each of the previous two years. Class I railroads are the largest rail carriers in the United States. In 1900, there were 132 Class I railroads, but as the result of mergers and bankruptcies,

570-417: The early 1980's as GP7u units for yard service, including a chopped short hood, new numberboards and front cab windows, and upgrading the 567B prime movers with 645 power assemblies and to "BC" engine block specs (some upgraded with 567C engine blocks out of retired F-units). Numerous GP7s have been preserved on tourist lines and in museums. Holders include: Class I railroad Railroad classes are

600-735: The industry has consolidated and as of April 2023 , just six Class I freight railroads remain. BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad have a duopoly over all transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western United States, while CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern Railway operate most of the trackage in the Eastern United States, with the Mississippi River being the rough dividing line. Canadian National Railway (via its subsidiary Grand Trunk Corporation ) operates north–south lines near

630-739: The standard EMD 2-stack exhaust with a 4-stack "liberated" exhaust, raising their power output to 1,600 horsepower (1.19 MW). Illinois Central Railroad rebuilt most of its GP7s with 567BC engines, 4-stack exhausts, paper air-intake filters, 26-L brakes (their original 6-BL brakes made them operationally incompatible with locomotives fitted with 24-RL brakes). All but the first locomotive rebuilt had their front (short) hood reduced in height for improved crew visibility. The IC designated these rebuilt locomotives GP8 . The IC acquired many second-hand units through Precision National Corporation (PNC), and then started offering their GP8/GP10 rebuilding services to other railroads through their Paducah Shops (note,

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660-607: The system by which freight railroads are designated in the United States . Railroads are assigned to Class I, II or III according to annual revenue criteria originally set by the Surface Transportation Board in 1992. With annual adjustments for inflation, the 2019 thresholds were US$ 504,803,294 for Class I carriers and US$ 40,384,263 for Class II carriers. (Smaller carriers were Class III by default.) There are six Class I freight railroad companies in

690-444: The two classes. The bounds are typically redefined every several years to adjust for inflation and other factors. Class II and Class III designations are now rarely used outside the rail transport industry. The Association of American Railroads typically divides non–Class I companies into three categories: In the United States, the Surface Transportation Board categorizes rail carriers into Class I, Class II, and Class III based on

720-447: Was also an option, but one end would still be designated as the front for maintenance purposes. The GP7 was also available with or without dynamic brakes , and a steam generator installed in the short hood was also an option. In the latter case, the 1,600-US-gallon (6,100 L; 1,300 imp gal) fuel tank was divided, with half for diesel fuel, and half for boiler water. One option available for locomotives without dynamic brakes,

750-502: Was barely able to meet demand, even after opening a second assembly plant at Cleveland, Ohio . Later, locomotives in EMD's GP-series came to be nicknamed ‘Geeps’. Many GP7s both high and short-hood can still be found in service today on shortline railroads and industrial operators. Although most Class 1 roads stopped using these locomotives by the 1980s some remain in rebuilt form on some major Class I railroads , as switcher locomotives. The "GP" designation stood for "general purpose", while

780-434: Was increased in 1992 to $ 250 million annually, which resulted in the Florida East Coast Railway having its status changed to Class II. The thresholds set in 1992 were: Since dissolution of the ICC in 1996, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) has become responsible for defining criteria for each railroad class. The STB continues to use designations of Class II and Class III as there are different labor regulations for

810-555: Was provided by an EMD 567B 16- cylinder engine which generated 1,500 horsepower (1,119 kW). The GP7 was offered both with and without control cabs, and those built without control cabs were called a GP7B. Five GP7B's were built between March and April 1953. Of the 2,734 GP7's built, 2,620 were for American railroads (including 5 GP7B units built for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway ), 112 were built for Canadian railroads, and 2 were built for Mexican railroads. This

840-610: Was rebuilt as a GP7 with parts from an F3A in October 1958. Over 100 GP7s and four of the GP7Bs were built with 567BC or 567C engines starting in March 1953 through May 1954. These are noted on the roster above. Many railroads rebuilt their GP7s with low short hoods; some railroads went further in their rebuilding than others. Missouri Pacific Railroad upgraded their GP7s with 567BC engines (a B-block upgraded to C-block specs) and replaced

870-627: Was the first model in EMD's GP (General Purpose ) series of locomotives. Concurrently, EMD offered a six-axle ( C-C ) SD (Special Duty) locomotive, the SD7 . The GP7 was replaced by the GP9 model in GM-EMD's GP sequence. ALCO , Fairbanks-Morse , and Baldwin had all introduced road switchers before EMD, whose first attempt at the road-switcher, the BL2 was unsuccessful in the market, selling only 58 units in

900-753: Was to remove the two 22.5 in × 102 in (570 mm × 2,590 mm) air reservoir tanks from under the frame, and replace them with four 12 in × 150.25 in (305 mm × 3,816 mm) tanks that were installed on the roof of the locomotive, above the prime mover. These "torpedo tubes" as they were nicknamed, enabled the fuel and water tanks to be increased to 1,100 US gallons (4,200 L; 920 imp gal) each, although some railroads opted for roof-mounted air tanks and 2,200-US-gallon (8,300 L; 1,800 imp gal) fuel tanks on their freight ‘Geeps’. GP7 locomotives were built at GMD's London Ontario plant for domestic Canadian railway purchasers, and for some US railroads like

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