The EMD GP20 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motor's Electro-Motive Division between November 1959 and April 1962.
It was innovative for EMD at the time as, alongside the SD24, it was one of the first EMD diesel locomotives to feature a turbocharged, and featured the characteristic "screaming" turbocharger sound which would become synonymous with EMD diesels from this point onwards. A total of 260 GP20s will go on to be built. The Santa Fe Railroad would own the most GP20s out of any railroad, ordering 75 units, while the Western Pacific Railroad would own the smallest roster, only purchasing 10. The Great Northern Railroad and the Western Pacific Railroad specified high short hoods for their orders, while New York Central opted to not include dynamic brakes on their units.
The Santa Fe got good use out of them, and would frequently run them in sets of three. Seeing Santa Fe trains being pulled by six GP20s was not uncommon in the early 1960s. Later on in the late 1980s, when the Santa Fe cast off the Toledo, Peoria, & Western Railroad, the TP&W wound up with at least a dozen or so GP20s. A handful of them were repainted into a paint scheme that was inspired by the New York Central lightning stripe livery.
The Indiana Hi-Rail, located between Browns, Illinois and Evansville, Indiana, owned a single ex-GN High Hood GP20.
In the present day, none of the Class 1s are operating GP20s, and only two have been preserved.
Preservation[]
- Western Pacific 2001 was the first GP20 to be preserved and is now preserved at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola, CA.
- KLIX 2003, originally Cotton Belt 815, is being stored at the Arkansas Railroad Museum in Pine Bluff, AR.
- Midland Railway 4079, originally Southern Pacific 7229, is on The Midland Railway in Baldwin City, Kansas.
Trivia[]
Gallery[]
