Southern Pacific 5472
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Southern Pacific 5472 (formerly known as Southern Pacific 4423) is an EMD SD9E diesel locomotive built by the General Motors Electro-Motive Division in 1956 for the Southern Pacific Transportation Company.[1][2][3][4] It was the sole example of what was the Southern Pacific class DF-125.[2][5][4][6]
History[edit]
Construction, delivery and revenue service[edit]
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Southern Pacific 5472 was constructed in 1956 by the General Motors Electro-Motive Division at La Grange, Illinois with its frame number #5435-9 and it was delivered to the Southern Pacific Transportation Company in March 1956.[1][2][3][7][8][4]
Upon being delivered to the Southern Pacific Railroad in March 1956, it had been numbered as 5472 and classified as a DF-125, in 1965, it was renumbered to 3946 and reclassified as an EF618-5.[1][2][3][7][8][4]
The 5472 was primarily for helper service over the Tehachapi range which lies between the Los Angeles basin and the central valley until on April 2nd, 1968, when the locomotive was leased to the Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NWP) It served on the NWP until October 14th, 1970.[2][4]
On May 27th, 1977, the 3946 was rebuilt into an SD9R under the General Rehabilitation and Improvement Program (G.R.I.P), where it was renumbered to 4423 and reclassified by the Southern Pacific as an EF618R-1.[1][2][3][7][8][4]
Retirement and OmniTRAX service[edit]
4423 was retired from active service on the Southern Pacific Railroad and sold to OmniTRAX at Loveland, Colorado in 1993 along with about 100 other units.[1][2][7][8][4]
Omnitrax had painted the 4423 and an additional three other locomotives in the current paint scheme and leased them to the reborn Northwestern Pacific Railroad after the Southern Pacific Railroad had sold the NWP to state agencies. 4423 along with the additional three units were delivered over the period between Thanksgiving and early December 1996.[2][8][4]
However, on Thanksgiving Day of 1998, the Northwestern Pacific Railroad was shut down by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and all but 2 of the units (which were wrecked and still sit in Willits, California) were returned to OmniTRAX between January and February 1999.[2][8]
Preservation[edit]
OmniTRAX had used the 4423 intermittently on their own railroad, the Great Western Railway in Loveland, Colorado until December 2002.[2][8] In 2003, the 4423 was purchased by the Pacific Locomotive Association (PLA) at Fremont, California and they were aware that it would have to be scrapped.[2][9][8]
But a guy by the name of Dennis Mann had contacted OmniTRAX about a possible sale to sell the 4423 for its scrap value.[2][8][4] An agreement was made, and Dennis Mann had wrote the check that was mailed to him and the 4423 was returned to California in December 2003.[2][8]
In 2004, the 4423 was restored both cosmetically and mechanically to its original form with the SP "Black Widow" paint scheme and was renumbered back to its original number of 5472 at the Oakland Terminal Railway, it was delivered to the Niles Canyon Railway where it had entered service on the Niles Canyon Railway at Sunol, California where it still operates there even to this day.[1][2][7][8]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Southern Pacific #5472". Niles Canyon Railway. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 "facts.htm". sp5472.ncry.org. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Luna (2005), p. 74
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Withers (1996), p. 36
- ↑ Signor, John R. (2005). SP Trainline - Issues 83-93. Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society. p. 8. Search this book on
- ↑ Shine (1988), p. 104
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 "Southern Pacific #5472 - Niles Canyon Railway". ncry.clubexpress.com. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 "Equipment Roster - Niles Canyon Railway". studylib.net. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
- ↑ "Preserved Diesels". www.thedieselshop.us. Retrieved 2023-09-17.
See also[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- Withers, Paul K. (1996). Diesel Era November/December 1996, Vol 7 No.6. Withers Publishing. Search this book on
- Shine, Joseph (1991). SP into the '90's. Four Ways West Publications. ISBN 9780685752104. Search this book on
- Shine, Joseph (1988). SP 1987/88 Motive Power Pictorial (1st ed.). Four-Ways West Publications. ISBN 9780961687434. Search this book on
- Strapac, Joseph (2004). Southern Pacific Diesel Locomotive Compendium, Volume 1. Shade Tree Books. ISBN 0-93074-226-5. Search this book on
- Luna, Henry (2005). Niles Canyon Railways. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2983-4. Search this book on
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southern Pacific 5472. |
Locomotives of the Southern Pacific in preservation | ||
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| Preserved steam engines |
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| Preserved diesel engines | ||
| Formerly preserved, scrapped | ||
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