EMD GP28

The EMD GP28 was a diesel-electric road switcher produced by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between March 1964 and November 1965. With a total production run of only 26 units, the model was among the more uncommon offerings in EMD's catalog during the mid-1960s. The relatively modest production numbers reflected the specialized nature of the locomotive, which was aimed at customers requiring a mid-range horsepower unit without the complexity and maintenance demands associated with turbocharged prime movers. The 26 units built were distributed across three countries. Sixteen locomotives went to American railroad operators, ten were purchased by Mexican railroads, and the remaining five were delivered to Peru, where the Southern Copper Corporation was among the known operators. This international distribution, while modest in scale, demonstrated EMD's ongoing effort during this period to serve markets across the Americas with adaptable, economical motive power. Although the GP28 never achieved the widespread adoption of contemporaries such as the GP35 or GP38, it occupies a distinct place in EMD's lineage as a naturally aspirated alternative during a transitional era in American diesel locomotive development. Its short production window of roughly two years meant that relatively few railroads had direct experience with the type, and surviving examples became of particular interest to historians and modelers as representative of the niche products EMD offered alongside its more commercially successful mainstream models.

The GP28 was powered by an EMD 567D3 prime mover, a 16-cylinder engine producing 1,800 horsepower. Notably, this engine operated without turbocharging, making the GP28 functionally a naturally aspirated counterpart to the GP35, which used a turbocharged version of a similar displacement engine to achieve significantly higher output. The use of a non-turbocharged power plant offered potential advantages in operating environments where maintenance infrastructure was limited or where lower sustained horsepower demands made the added complexity of a turbocharger unnecessary. The locomotive rode on a B-B wheel arrangement, with four powered axles distributed across two trucks, and used direct current traction motors consistent with standard EMD practice of the period. The overall mechanical layout placed the GP28 firmly within the established GP-series road switcher family, sharing many structural and mechanical components with other models in that lineage.

Models by: Walthers