EMD GP35
4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division
EMD GP35 BNSF #2500
Performance figures Maximum speed 65 mph (105 km/h) Power output 2,500 hp (1.86 MW) Tractive effort Starting: 60,500 lbf (27,442 kgf) @25%
Continuous: 50,000 lbf (22,680 kgf) @9.3 mph (15 km/h)
The EMD GP35 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between July 1963 and December 1965 and by General Motors Diesel between May 1964 and January 1966. 1251 examples were built for American railroads, 26 were built for Canadian railroads and 57 were built for Mexican railroads. Power was provided by a turbocharged EMD 567D3A 16-cylinder engine which generated 2,500 horsepower (1,860 kW).[ 1]
Many railroads traded in Alco FA units and EMD F-units for GP35s, reusing the trucks and traction motors. Examples with Alco trucks include those owned by Gulf, Mobile and Ohio , Southern Railway , and Ann Arbor Railroad .
Original buyers
[ 2] [ 3]
Railroad
Quantity
Road numbers
Notes
Alaska Railroad
3
2501–2503
Ann Arbor Railroad
10
385–394
Type B Trucks
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
161
1300–1460
Renumbered 3300-3460. Most now in service with BNSF Railway, 2505 was wrecked and retired in 2007.
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad
6
909–914
To Seaboard Coast Line 1400-1405[ 4]
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
41
3500–3519, 3540–3559, 3581
Canadian National Railway
2
4000–4001
Renumbered 9300, 9301
Canadian Pacific Railway
24
8202–8213, 5014–5025
8202–8213 renumbered to 5002–5013, 5024–5025 last GP35s built
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway
42
3520–3539, 3560–3575
3045, 3047
Rebuilt from wrecked GP30s ; Renumbered 3583,3584
3537 (2nd), 3563 (2nd), 3574 (2nd)
Rebuilt from wrecked GP35s
3582
Rebuilt from wrecked GP7
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad
22
978–999
To Burlington Northern 2524-2545[ 5]
Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad
31
242–259
To Missouri Pacific Railroad 650–667
260–272
To Missouri Pacific Railroad 668–680, Louisville and Nashville Railroad 1116–1128
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
12
360–371
Renumbered 1500–1511
Chicago and North Western Railway
43
824–866
824 and 825 were replacements for wrecked GP9s
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
34
300–333
De Queen and Eastern Railroad
1
D-6
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad
22
3029–3050
Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad
8
350–357
Erie Lackawanna Railroad
36
2551–2586
To Conrail 3657-3692[ 6]
Great Northern Railway
24
3017–3040
To Burlington Northern 2500-2523[ 5]
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad
48
601–648
Type B trucks
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
17
1100–1115, 1101 (2nd)
1101 (2nd) wreck rebuild
Missouri Pacific Railroad
50
600–614, 640–649
From Texas and Pacific Railway
615–639
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
55
8200–8254
8215–8229 High Short Hood with steam generator
New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad
1
910
Rebuild of wrecked GP9 . To N&W 2910[ 7]
New York Central Railroad
31
6125–6155
Renumbered 2369–2399; numbers retained under Penn Central and Conrail .
NYC 6155 was ex-EMD 1964 the New York World's Fair unit, exx EMD 5661
Norfolk and Western Railway
69
200–239, 1309–1328
1300–1301
Low nose, ordered by Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway
1302–1308
Low nose, ordered by Wabash Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
119
2252–2370
2309–2310 renumbered 2250–2251, and 2369–2370 renumbered 2309–2310; numbers retained under Penn Central and Conrail; 5 units to Housatonic Railroad 3600-3604
Reading Company
37
6501–6506, 3626–3656
6501–6506 renumbered 3620–3625; entire group to Conrail as 3620-3656[ 6]
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad
8
111–118
Renumbered 131–138
Seaboard Air Line Railroad
10
535–544
To Seaboard Coast Line 1406-1415[ 4]
Ferrocarril Sonora–Baja California
2
2307–2308
St. Louis – San Francisco Railway
33
700–732
725–731 Type B Trucks
Soo Line Railroad
10
722–731
722 only Type B Trucks
Southern Railway
78
210–214
From Central of Georgia Railway , renumbered to 240–244, to NS
2645–2704, 2526
2526 Rebuilt from wrecked GP30, 2645–2702 Type B Trucks
2705–2715
From Savannah and Atlanta Railway Company Type B Trucks
2641
From CNO&TP , rebuilt from wrecked GP30
Southern Pacific Company
160
7408–7484, 7700–7782
Renumbered 6520–6679
St. Louis Southwestern Railway
22
760–781
Renumbered 6500–6519; 780–781 diverted from Southern Pacific Company, renumbered 6680–6681
Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway
3
900–902
Type B trucks
Union Pacific Railroad
24
740–763
UP 762–763 were ex EMD 5652, 5654 first GP35s built as part of the GP35–DD35–DD35–GP35 demonstrator set.
Wabash Railroad
8
540–547
To Norfolk and Western 3540-3547[ 7]
Western Maryland Railway
5
501–505
Renumbered 3576–3580
Western Pacific Railroad
22
3001–3022
Totals
1,334
Preservation
Some GP35s are in preservation, while others are on tourist railroads, meaning they are technically preserved.
Conway Scenic Railroad 216 regularly operates with GP38 252 on the notch train, painted in a Maine Central inspired scheme with Conway Scenic reporting marks. It was built as Norfolk and Western 1328 and was their last GP35 built. It was sold to Springfield Terminal in 1992 and renumbered to 216. It was retired and sold to Conway Scenic in 2011.
Fillmore and Western Railway 3501 and 3502 operated in year round excursion service, and sometimes appeared in films, TV shows and commercials. 3501 and 3502 were built as Pennsylvania Railroad 2262 and 2339. 3501 was sold to SMV when the Fillmore & Western Railway ceased operations in 2021 and 3502 remains on FWRY property.
Gulf Mobile and Ohio 631 is stored at the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum . It was restored and put on display in Mobile, AL in 1997, then moved for restoration in 2008.
Reading Company 3640 is under restoration at the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society in Hamburg, PA. It was the only Reading GP35 to be painted in the solid green scheme in 1974, and the society hopes to restore it to this scheme.
Savannah and Atlanta Railway 2715 is on display at the Georgia State Railroad Museum . It was the last GP35 built for any part of Southern Railway .
Watco 3533 is in service switching in Kansas City, Missouri. It was built as Wabash 547 in 1964. It was the last locomotive ever built for the Wabash. It was donated to the National Museum of Transportation in 2006, then was brought out of retirement in 2011 and shipped to Mid America Car & Locomotive to be restored to operation, then put in service in 2014.
Western Pacific Railroad 3002 is preserved at Union Station in Ogden, Utah , and was restored to its as-delivered appearance.[ 8]
References
^ Foster, Gerald L. (1996). A field guide to trains of North America . Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 32. ISBN 0-395-70112-0 .
^ Thompson, David. "EMD's GP35 - Original Owners" . Locomotive Rosters . trainweb.org. Retrieved 13 March 2013 .
^ Kristopans, Andris J. "Roadswitchers - 567" . Pages of Andre Kristopans . Retrieved 13 March 2013 .
^ a b "Seaboard Coast Line Motive Power" . The Diesel Shop . Retrieved 13 March 2013 .
^ a b Ambrose, Brian. "Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Section" . Burlington Northern Tribute . Retrieved 13 March 2013 .
^ a b Waller, Robert S. "Loco Rosters: April 1, 1976" . Conrail Cyclopedia . Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 13 March 2013 .
^ a b Komanesky, John. "Norfolk & Western Motive Power Summary" . The Diesel Shop . Retrieved 13 March 2013 .
^ Franz, Justin (2024-04-18). "Western Pacific GP35 Restored in Utah" . Railfan & Railroad Magazine . Retrieved 2024-07-13 .
Bibliography
See also