EMD MP15AC Canadian Pacific #1422

Technical Specifics

The EMD MP15AC was a diesel road switcher locomotive produced by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between August 1975 and August 1984. It emerged from an evolution of the earlier MP15DC, which had demonstrated that a switcher-sized locomotive riding on standard Blomberg B trucks could operate at road freight speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. Railroads that had already invested in EMD's alternator-equipped road locomotives through the 1970s found the MP15AC a natural fit for their maintenance programs, as its electrical systems were similar to those already in service across their fleets. Over the course of its production run, 351 examples were constructed, with customers including both domestic American railroads and buyers in Mexico and Canada. The six largest purchasers of the MP15AC were railroads already familiar with EMD's AR10 alternator technology through their road locomotive acquisitions, making parts commonality and crew familiarity significant practical advantages. An additional 36 units found their way to eight smaller customers. The model's production span of nearly a decade reflected sustained demand for a capable, versatile locomotive that could bridge switching and light road freight duties, a role that purely dedicated switchers of earlier generations could not as easily fulfill. The MP15AC represented a meaningful step in the broader standardization of diesel-electric locomotive technology, as the alternator-rectifier arrangement it employed gradually displaced the older DC generator as the accepted approach for new designs throughout the industry. Its service life on many railroads extended well beyond its production years, and examples could be found active into the twenty-first century on short lines and regional carriers that valued its combination of moderate power and mechanical simplicity.

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