EMD FP9

The EMD FP9 emerged in early 1954 as a purpose-built passenger locomotive within General Motors Electro-Motive Division's established F-unit family. It represented a direct evolution of the earlier FP7, itself a stretched variant of the standard F7 freight locomotive. Production continued through December 1959, with final assembly conducted at EMD's La Grange, Illinois facility for domestic orders, while locomotives destined for Canadian railroads were assembled by General Motors Diesel at its London, Ontario plant. A total of 86 cab-equipped A units were produced across the entire production run, with no dedicated cabless B units offered in the FP9 configuration, though operators occasionally paired FP9 A units with standard F9B boosters to take advantage of the booster's additional interior space for water storage and steam heating equipment. The two most significant buyers were the Canadian National Railway and Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico, which acquired 43 and 25 units respectively, making them by far the dominant customers for the type. The Canadian Pacific Railway also took delivery of eleven units built by General Motors Diesel. A small and unusual subset of the production total consisted of four locomotives delivered to the Chicago and North Western Railway, which were rebuilt from traded-in EMD FT units and carried the designation FP9M to distinguish them from new construction. The FP9's relatively modest total build of 86 units reflected the narrowing market for full-sized cab unit passenger locomotives during the late 1950s, as American railroads began moving away from long-distance passenger service and toward road-switcher designs. The FP9's legacy extended well beyond its original operators. Canadian National units in particular enjoyed remarkably long service lives, with a number eventually transferred to VIA Rail Canada following that agency's creation in 1977 to consolidate intercity passenger operations. Some of these locomotives were subsequently rebuilt into a configuration known as the FP9ARM, allowing them to continue serving VIA Rail into the 1980s and beyond. The type thus outlasted many of its contemporaries and remained closely associated with Canadian passenger railroading long after comparable American locomotives had been retired.

The FP9 was powered by the EMD 567C prime mover, a 16-cylinder two-stroke diesel engine producing 1,750 horsepower, the same powerplant used in the contemporary F9 freight locomotive. The key distinction between the FP9 and the standard F9 was a four-foot extension in the carbody length, which provided the additional interior volume necessary to accommodate a steam generator for heating passenger cars and the larger water supply that sustained it over long runs. This lengthened carbody sat on a B-B wheel arrangement, meaning two two-axle powered trucks, with all axles driven through direct current traction motors in a diesel-electric transmission arrangement. Despite the longer frame compared to the F9, the FP9 retained the same characteristic streamlined carbody styling that had defined EMD's F-unit series since the late 1930s. The locomotive's dual-service designation acknowledged that operators could theoretically deploy it in freight service when not required for passenger assignments, though the steam generator equipment represented additional weight and complexity that made purely freight-oriented use less economical. The absence of a cabless FP9B booster variant meant that operators seeking additional power in passenger service had to either use multiple FP9 A units in consist or supplement them with standard F9B units. The 567C engine represented a mature and well-proven design by the time FP9 production commenced, contributing to the reliability that helped these locomotives accumulate the long service lives for which the type became known, particularly in Canada.

Models by: Athearn · Intermountain