| EMD E7 | |
| Powertype: | Diesel-electric |
| Builder: | General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) |
| Buildmodel: | E7 |
| Builddate: | February 1945 – April 1949 |
| Totalproduction: | 428 A units, 82 B units |
| Aarwheels: | A1A-A1A |
| Wheeldiameter: | 36inches |
| Minimumcurve: | 21° (274.37feet radius) |
| Length: | 71feet |
| Width: | 10inchesftNaNinchesin (ftin) |
| Height: | 14inchesft11inchesin (ftin) |
| Locoweight: | A unit 315000lb, B unit: 290000lb |
| Fueltype: | Diesel |
| Primemover: | (2) EMD 12-567A |
| Rpmrange: | 800 |
| Enginetype: | V12 Two-stroke diesel |
| Aspiration: | Mechanical via Roots blower |
| Displacement: | 6804cuin each |
| Generator: | (2) EMD D-4 |
| Tractionmotors: | (4) GM D7 or D17 or D27 |
| Cylindercount: | (2) 12 |
| Maxspeed: | NaN0NaN0 |
| Poweroutput: | 2000abbr=on0abbr=on total |
| Tractiveeffort: | 56500lbf starting, 31000lbf continuous |
| Locale: | United States |
| Disposition: | One preserved on static display, remainder scrapped. |
The E7 was a 2000hp, 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.
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.)
In the 2010 miniseries The Pacific, filmed in Melbourne, S313, an example of the similar A16C export model, was painted to resemble Louisville & Nashville Railroad E7A 758 for filming, however it retained the livery for a short while after filming wrapped.
Ex-Pennsylvania Railroad E7A #5901 is preserved as the only surviving example of the E7. This locomotive has been cosmetically restored, and is currently on indoor display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.
| 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 |
| 7 | — | 101,A–103,A, 100 | — | to GM&O in 1947 | |
| 20 | 10 | 524–543 | 755–764 | ||
| 2 | — | 700–701 | — | renumbered 10–11, Both Re-geared for freight in 1962 | |
| 21 | — | 3800–3820 | — | ||
| 18 | — | 64,A–80,A | — | Even numbers only | |
| 10 | — | 801–810 | — | ||
| 4 | — | 95–98 | — | ||
| 3 | — | 1100–1102 | — | ||
| 26 | — | 5007B, 5008A,B–5019A,B, 5020A | — | ||
| 44 | — | 9916A,B–9936A,B, 9937A, 9949 | — | ||
| 11 | 9 | 632–642 | 632B–634B, 637B–642B | ||
| 17 | 3 | 1006–1022 | 1052–1054 | ||
| 13 | — | 500A,B–504A,B, 510A–512A | — | 500A,B–504A,B renumbered 500A–509A | |
| 14 | 4 | 4005–4017, 4000 | 4100–4103 | ||
| 12 | — | 458A,B–461A,B, 790–793 | — | ||
| 7 | — | 705–711 | — | ||
| 10 | — | 16A,B–20A,B | — | ||
| 2 | — | 101A,B | — | ||
| 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 |
| 36 | 14 | 4000–4035 | 4100–4113 | E7B renumbered 4200-4213 by Penn Central in 1968 | |
| 8 | — | 101–108 | — | ||
| 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. E7B renumbered 4214-4227 in 1968 | |
| 32 | 3 | 3017–3048 | 3105–3107 | ||
| 6 | — | 2000–2005 | — | Later rebuilt to look like E8's, but retained the same E7 innards | |
| 18 | — | 2905–2922 | — | ||
| 5 | 10 | 6000A–6004A | 6000B,C–6004B,C | ||
| 1 | — | 6017 | — | Model E7m, rebuilt from an E2A at Los Angeles Shops. | |
| 1 | — | 750 | — | to Burlington Northern 9900 | |
| 10 | — | 2000–2009 | — | renumbered 1–10 | |
| 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 | |
| 4 | — | 1000, 1001, 1001A, 1002 | — | 1001 renumbered 1002A, then 1017; 1001A renumbered 1016 | |
| Total | 429 | 82 | |||