Power type Diesel-electric Total produced 101 Prime mover EMD 567C | Builder General Motors Diesel AAR wheel arr. A1A-A1A (83);
B-B (18) | |
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Build date August 1958 – April 1960 | ||
The GMD GMD1 is a diesel locomotive originally produced by General Motors Diesel (GMD), the Canadian subsidiary of General Motors Electro-Motive Division, between August 1958 and April 1960. This switcher locomotive was powered by a 12-cylinder EMD 567C diesel engine, capable of producing 1,200 horsepower. The GMD-1 was built on either Flexicoil A1A-A1A (for light rail prairie branchlines) or Flexicoil B-B trucks. 101 examples of this locomotive were built for Canadian railways. 96 went to Canadian National Railway and the remaining 5 went to Northern Alberta Railways (that later became part of CN's fleet when they acquired majority interest in NAR).
Contents
According to original blueprints of the locomotive from GMD, CN's own equipment diagram books, and the original GMD manual for this locomotive, it is consistently referred to as a GMD-1 rather than a GMD1. "GMD1" has been a common misnomer since the 1970s.
As of November 2016, CN still operates a few GMD1's, though most of them are either in storage or retired.
Rebuilds
CN upgraded a number of their GMD-1's in the 1980s, as 1400-series units (B-B) and 1600-series (A-1-A). A number of 1600's were later retrucked with B-B's and renumbered as 1400's.
1100 series units are 1000's retrofitted with Flexicoil B-B trucks in place of their original A-1-A's.
Second Hand Users
A number of GMD-1 units have been sold off in the 1990s and 2000s to rebuilders, leasers, regional and shortline railways. A few were acquired by Ferrocarriles de Cuba. Oregon Pacific Railroad acquired Canadian National #1045, and is now numbered OPR #1413.