The EMD FP7 was a 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW), B-B dual-service passenger and freight-hauling diesel locomotive produced between June 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel. Final assembly was at GM-EMD’s La Grange, Illinois plant, excepting locomotives destined for Canada, in which case final assembly was at GMD’s plant in London, Ontario. The FP7 was essentially EMD’s F7A locomotive extended by four feet to give greater water capacity for the steam generator for heating passenger trains.

While EMD’s E-units were successful passenger engines, their A1A-A1A wheel arrangement made them less useful in mountainous terrain. Several railroads had tried EMD’s F3 in passenger service, but there was insufficient water capacity in an A-unit fitted with dynamic brakes. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway’s solution was to replace the steam generators in A-units with a water tank, and so only fitted steam generators into the B-units. The Northern Pacific Railway’s solution was to fit extra water tanks into the first baggage car, and to pipe the water to the engines. The real breakthrough came when EMD recognized the problem and added the stretched FP7 to its catalog.

A total of 381 cab-equipped lead A units were built; unlike the freight series, no cabless booster B units were sold. Regular F7B units were sometimes used with FP7 A units, since they, lacking cabs, had more room for water and steam generators. The FP7 and its successor, the FP9, were offshoots of GM-EMD’s highly successful F-unit series of cab unit freight diesels.

F3s, F7s, and F9s equipped for passenger service are not FP-series locomotives, which although similar in appearance have distinctive differences, including but not limited to the greater body length. The extra 4 ft (1.2 m) of length was added behind the first body-side porthole, and can be recognised by the greater distance between that porthole and the first small carbody filter grille. The corresponding space beneath the body, behind the front truck, was also opened up; this either remained an empty space or was filled with a distinctive water tank shaped like a barrel mounted transversely.

Features:

• All units are powered
• Factory installed SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound and DCC decoder (DCC+sound units only)
• Tsunami sounds are compatible with both DCC and DC operation (DCC+sound units only)
• Genesis driveline with balanced five pole skew wound motor and dual flywheels
• Directional constant lighting; headlight brightness remains constant
• Scaled from prototype resources including drawings, field measurements, photographs, and more
• Fully-assembled and ready-to-run
• Accurately-painted and printed paint schemes
• Separately applied photo etched metal and injection molded detail parts
• Cab interior
• Coupler cut levers
• MU hoses
• Trainline hose
• Windshield wipers
• Lift rings
• Wire grab irons
• Detailed fuel tank with fuel fillers, fuel gauges, breather pipes, and retention tanks
• Sander lines
• Body mounted McHenry scale knuckle couplers - Kadee compatible
• DCC-ready features Quick Plug plug-and-play technology with both 8- and 9-pin connector (DCC-Ready only)
• Genesis driveline with 5-pole skew wound motor, precision machined flywheels, and multi-link drivetrain for trouble free operation
• All-wheel drive with precision gears for smooth and quiet operation
• All-wheel electrical pickup provides reliable current flow
• Wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track
• Incandescent bulbs for realistic appearance
• Back up light
• Blomberg-B trucks
• Heavy die-cast frame for greater traction and more pulling power
• Packaging securely holds for the model for safe storage
• Replacement parts available
• Minimum radius: 18”

Sound Equipped Model Features:

• Onboard DCC decoder with SoundTraxx Tsunami2 decoder pre-installed
• Sound units operate in both DC and DCC
• Individual sound boards installed in both A and B units (sound units only)
• Engine, horn, and bell sounds work in DC
• Some functions are limited in DC
• All functions NMRA compatible in DCC mode
• Slow speed control
• Program a multiple unit (MU) lashup with lead unit only horn, bell, and lights
• Lighting effects such as beacons, Gyralight where prototypically accurate
• Many functions can be altered via Configuration Value (CV) changes
• CV chart included in the box

Road Specific Details:

These units are detailed to match photos taken after 1956. The a-unit has a three-chime air horn, and hasn’t yet received it’s plow pilot. Photos show it survived without the plow until the very early sixties. Both units of this set still have the EMD modified “mini skirts” above the large fuel tanks.

• Represent modified locomotives after 1956
• Modified side skirt
• Whip antenna, A-units
• Nose mounted m/u door, A-units
• Nose side grab irons, A-units
• Nose mounted lift lugs, A-units
• Early style 4-hose MU hoses
• FARR grilles
• Seperately applied nose mounted photo-etched and printed sunset medallion, A-units
• Era: 1956+