EMD E7

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EMD E7
RR76.37 No. 5901 Front Side.jpg
Pennsylvania Railroad E7A #5901 on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 2015.
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
ModelE7
Build dateFebruary 1945 – April 1949
Total produced428 A units, 82 B units
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • AARA1A-A1A
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Wheel diameter36 in (914 mm)
Minimum curve21° (274.37 ft or 83.63 m radius)
Length71 ft (22 m)
Width10 ft 6+1⁄2 in (3.213 m)
Height14 ft 11 in (4.55 m)
Loco weightA unit: 315,000 lb (143,000 kg), B unit: 290,000 lb (130,000 kg)
Fuel typeDiesel
No. of traction motors(4) GM D7 or D17 or D27
Prime mover(2) EMD 567A
RPM range800
Engine typeV12 Two-stroke diesel
AspirationRoots-type supercharger
Displacement6,804 cu in (111.50 L) each
Generator(2) EMD D-4
Traction motors(4) GM D7 or D17 or D27
Cylinders(2) 12
Performance figures
Maximum speed85–117 mph (137–188 km/h)
Power output2,000 hp (1,491 kW) total
Tractive effort56,500 lb (25,600 kg) starting, 31,000 lb (14,000 kg) continuous
Career
LocaleUnited States
DispositionOne preserved on static display, remainder scrapped.


The E7 was a 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. 428 cab versions, or E7As, were built from February 1945 to April 1949; 82 booster E7Bs were built from March 1945 to July 1948. (Circa 1953 one more E7A was built by the Los Angeles General Shops of the Southern Pacific by rebuilding an E2A.) The 2,000 hp came from two 12 cylinder model 567A engines. Each engine drove its own electrical generator to power the two traction motors on one truck. The E7 was the eighth model in a line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units, and it became the best selling E model upon its introduction.[1]

In profile the front of the nose of an E7A was less slanted than on earlier EMD passenger locomotives, and the E7, E8, and E9 units have been nicknamed “bulldog nose” units. Some earlier units were called “shovel nose” units or “slant nose” units.

These units are often regarded as "the best selling passenger diesel locomotive ever."

In film[]

A Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad E7A, #103-A, appears at the start and end of the 1967 film In The Heat of the Night.

A Southern Pacific E7A, #6001, is on the point of a train that figures prominently in "The Hitch-Hiker", a popular 1960 episode of the anthology television series, The Twilight Zone, starring Inger Stevens. (According to the narration, Steven's character is said to encounter the train somewhere between Pennsylvania and Tennessee, yet the locomotive's number board shows that the train, #99, is the Coast Daylight, which travelled between Los Angeles and San Francisco.)

Surviving example[]

Ex-Pennsylvania Railroad E7A #5901 has been preserved by the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. This locomotive has been cosmetically restored, and is currently on indoor display. It is the only surviving example.

Original owners[]

Railroad Quantity
A units		 Quantity
B units		 Road numbers
A units		 Road numbers
B units		 Notes
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator) 1 — 765 — Former GM Train of Tomorrow demonstrator, sold to Union Pacific 988
Alton Railroad 7 — 101,A–103,A, 100 — to GM&O in 1947
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad 20 10 524–543 755–764
Bangor and Aroostook Railroad 2 — 700–701 — renumbered 10–11, Both Re-geared for freight in 1962
Boston and Maine Railroad 21 — 3800–3820 —
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 18 — 64,A–80,A — Even numbers only
Central of Georgia Railway 10 — 801–810 —
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 4 — 95–98 —
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad 3 — 1100–1102 —
Chicago and North Western Railway 26 — 5007B, 5008A,B–5019A,B, 5020A —
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad 44 — 9916A,B–9936A,B, 9937A, 9949 —
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 11 9 632–642 632B–634B, 637B–642B
Florida East Coast Railway 17 3 1006–1022 1052–1054
Great Northern Railway 13 — 500A,B–504A,B, 510A–512A — 500A,B–504A,B renumbered 500A–509A
Illinois Central Railroad 14 4 4005–4017, 4000 4100–4103
Louisville and Nashville Railroad 12 — 458A,B–461A,B, 790–793 —
Maine Central Railroad 7 — 705–711 —
Milwaukee Road 10 — 16A,B–20A,B —
Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad 2 — 101A,B —
Missouri Pacific Railroad 9 7 7004–7006, 7010–7011, 7014–7017 7004B, 7010B–7011B, 7014B–7017B renumbered 13–15, 19–20, 23–26, 13B–15B, 17B–20B
Missouri Pacific Railroad (International-Great Northern Railroad) 3 1 7007, 7012–7013 7012B renumbered 16, 21–22, 16B
Missouri Pacific Railroad (St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway) 2 — 7008–7009 — renumbered 17–18
New York Central Railroad 36 14 4000–4035 4100–4113
Pere Marquette Railway 8 — 101–108 —
Pennsylvania Railroad 46 14 5900A–5901A, 5840A–5883A 5840B–5864B (even only), 5900B 5900-5901A renumbered to 4200-4201, 5840-5841 to 4240-4241, 5842-5879 to 4202-4239, 5880-5883 to 4242-4245, all to Penn Central same numbers
Seaboard Air Line Railroad 32 3 3017–3048 3105–3107
St. Louis–San Francisco Railway 6 — 2000–2005 — Later rebuilt to look like E8's, but retained the same E7 innards
Southern Railway 18 — 2905–2922 —
Southern Pacific Company 5 10 6000A–6004A 6000B,C–6004B,C
1 — 6017 — Model E7m, rebuilt from an E2A at Los Angeles Shops.
Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway 1 — 750 — to Burlington Northern 9900
Texas and Pacific Railway 10 — 2000–2009 — renumbered 1–10
Union Pacific Railroad 4 3 959A–960A, 930A–931A 961B–963B
Joint UP-C&NW 1 2 927A 928B–929B
Joint UP-SP-C&NW 1 2 907A 908B–909B
Wabash Railroad 4 — 1000, 1001, 1001A, 1002 — 1001 renumbered 1002A, then 1017; 1001A renumbered 1016
Total 429 82

See also[]

  • List of GM-EMD locomotives

References[]

  1. ^ Foster, Gerald L. (1996). A field guide to trains of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 100. ISBN 0-395-70112-0.
  • Dorin, Patrick C. (1972). Chicago and North Western Power. Burbank, California: Superior Publishing. p. 131. ISBN 0-87564-715-4.
  • Lamb, J. Parker (2007). Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive. Railroads Past and Present. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34863-0.
  • Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years: A Guide to Diesels Built Before 1972. Railroad Reference Series. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-258-2.
  • Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. EMD–121–EMD–123. ISBN 978-0-89024-026-7.
  • Schafer, Mike (1998). Vintage Diesel Locomotives. Enthusiast Color Series. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-0507-2.
  • Solomon, Brian (2000). The American Diesel Locomotive. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-7603-0666-6.
  • Solomon, Brian (2006). EMD Locomotives. St. Paul, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2396-0.
  • Solomon, Brian (2010). Vintage Diesel Power. Minneapolis, Minnesota: MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-3795-0.
  • Solomon, Brian (2011). Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America's Favorite Locomotives. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4007-3.
  • Solomon, Brian (2012). North American Locomotives: A Railroad-by-Railroad Photohistory. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4370-8.
  • Wilson, Jeff (2002). E Units: Electro-Motive's Classic Streamliners. Classic Trains / Golden Years of Railroading series. Waukesha, WI, USA: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0890246068.

External links[]

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