EMD FP45 Southern Pacific Santa Fe #7990

Technical Specifics

The EMD FP45 emerged in 1967 as a direct response to a request from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which operated some of the most celebrated passenger trains in the United States, including the Super Chief and El Capitan. Santa Fe's management was dissatisfied with the workmanlike appearance of conventional hood unit locomotives, whose external walkways and utilitarian lines they considered inappropriate for prestigious passenger service. EMD had already developed the SDP45, which performed well mechanically in that role, but the Santa Fe pushed for a more refined external appearance. The solution was a cowl body design that enclosed the locomotive's mechanical components in a smooth, aerodynamically shaped shell, giving the FP45 a visual character closer to the earlier cab unit locomotives that had long defined American passenger train aesthetics. Production of the FP45 was quite limited by any measure. Santa Fe took delivery of nine units, numbered 100 through 108, while the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad purchased five additional examples, numbered 1 through 5, for use on its own passenger operations. The Milwaukee Road's units were delivered without dynamic brakes. Illinois Central reportedly explored acquiring five FP45s as well, but that order was ultimately canceled. With only fourteen locomotives built in total, the FP45 represented one of the smaller production runs in EMD's catalog, though the model was financially viable because it shared its fundamental mechanical underpinnings with the more widely produced SDP45. The FP45's service career extended well beyond the passenger era that inspired it. After Santa Fe discontinued its passenger operations, the surviving units were repurposed and rebuilt. Between 1980 and 1982, Santa Fe's San Bernardino shops overhauled eight of the locomotives, upgrading them electrically to SD45-2 standards and re-gearing them for freight service. These rebuilt examples were redesignated SDFP45s and continued working through the final years of the Santa Fe before its merger with Burlington Northern in 1995, after which the remaining units were retired. The Milwaukee Road's five FP45s met an earlier end, with all five sold for scrap between 1981 and 1984. Several Santa Fe examples survived into preservation, with restored or display specimens held at museums across the United States, including the Illinois Railway Museum, the Southern California Railway Museum, and the Great Plains Transportation Museum.

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