EMD GP15-1 Burlington Northern Santa Fe #1495

Technical Specifics

The EMD GP15-1 was introduced in June 1976 as a product of General Motors' Electro-Motive Division, developed as a new-build alternative to the rebuilding programs that many American railroads were undertaking on their aging first-generation road switchers. Rather than offering customers a rebuilt locomotive built around salvaged components, EMD designed the GP15-1 as a relatively low-cost, low-horsepower unit suitable for yard switching and light road assignments. Production continued through March 1982, during which time EMD delivered a total of 310 units to American railroads. The Missouri Pacific Railroad was by far the dominant customer for the GP15-1, purchasing more units than all other buyers combined. Missouri Pacific's units displayed several distinguishing characteristics compared to those delivered to other roads, including grab iron ladders on both sides of the long hood end. The earliest Missouri Pacific units, numbered 1555 through 1574, rode on Blomberg M trucks and featured an 81-inch nose, while units built from December 1976 onward were equipped with Blomberg B trucks and an 88-inch nose. Some Missouri Pacific examples also received a single brake shoe per wheel rather than the standard two-shoe arrangement found on typical Blomberg B trucks. The GP15-1 was the most commercially successful of three GP15 variants produced by EMD, the others being the turbocharged GP15T, of which 28 were built between 1982 and 1983, and the GP15AC, of which 34 were built in late 1982. Union Pacific, which inherited a substantial fleet through its absorption of Missouri Pacific, later rebuilt 22 of its GP15-1 units into GP15N locomotives at the Jenks shop in North Little Rock, Arkansas, fitting them with microprocessor control systems to improve adhesion and extend their operational lifespan. Many GP15-1s have continued to serve in yard and light road assignments well into the twenty-first century.

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