GE'S SUPER 7

A group of MGA's Super 7-23B's huddle together at Brownsville, PA in between jobs
John Benner photo

 

     By the 1980's, GE had firmly entrenched themselves as a viable and solid locomotive builder, and had an impressive catalog to go with it. Having built massive fleets of road units across nearly 30 years by that time, it was no surprise that GE's reputation for solid road power and good parts supply was unparalleled and would pave the way for their eventual defeat of EMD as the dominant force in the North American locomotive market. However, one market they had not been nearly as successful in was the lower horsepower market. Ironically, despite first producing small switchers for industrial customers and light duty work, modern GE had trouble convincing customers to buy their smaller products (since the Universal line GE had been offering a locomotive in the 1800-2300 HP lineup, well into the 80s, however the only ones ever built were the U18B, U23B, and B23-7 almost entirely for Class I railroads). Their most common low horsepower locomotives, the U23B and B23-7, were both purchased by operators with very specific horsepower bracket needs (such as ATSF, SOU, and PC/CR).

WP U23B #2251 would become GECX 2001.
It was one of a handful of Super 7's rebuilt by M-K Boise.
Vic Reyna photo, Craig Garver collection

    At the same time, many Class I railroads had stockpiles of very old, very worn out locomotives, and studies performed by EMD and GE found that there was a possible market for rebuilding old locomotives as a cheaper alternative to buying new power. For EMD, who had a significantly larger catalog of old equipment to rebuild, they took several GP9's and produced the BL20-2, a 4 axle, 2000 horsepower frame up rebuild of the previous locomotive with a new carbody and modern engine/generator upgrades. The first BL20-2 rolled out in August 1992, and two more followed the next month. While EMD had the advantage of most roads already owning their older equipment, GE's old locomotives were almost exclusively sitting in scrap piles at their Erie, PA plant, as their lifespan was significantly shorter than a comparable EMD locomotive of the era. 

Little Rock, Arkansas was the final resting place
for many GE products purchased by WP and UP.
Murray Lewis photo

 

    Studying their most popular models across the Universal and Dash 7, GE took a handful of traded in Universals on the property (a few U23B's from Western Pacific plus a U33C from Southern and a few 6 axle U's from Milwaukee Road), stripped them down to the frame, rebuilt and retooled the engine-generator sets, all new wiring and SENTRY wheelslip control, and gave them new Dash 8 equivalent carbodies. Having studied ATSF's SF30C of 1986, GE moved various subsystems inside the hood to make the Universals more equivalent in layout and tech to a comparable Series 7. The U23B's kept their 2250 HP rating, while the miscellaneous 6 axles were unified under 3000 HP, with the units emerging from rebuild dubbed "Super 7" for their equivalence to a Series 7 with new Dash 8 technology.

GECX #3000 rests at CNW's Proviso Yard on September 18th, 1995.
GE often sent their 6 axle Super 7's out on lease and warranty coverage service to customers.
Sam Carlson photo

 

    The Erie plant was at record capacity, so to make space for more Dash 8 orders being fulfilled at the time (GE was about to roll out the widecab for the very first time with the Dash 8-40CW and wanted as much production capacity as possible), GE purchased the former Montreal Locomotive Works factory to help alleviate congestion at Erie. GE also contracted some production to Morrison Knudsen of Boise, who produced several of the 4 axle Super 7 demonstrators. GE did not end up producing nearly as many Super 7's as intended, with the majority of 6 axle production being completed in Mexico by FNM shop crews using GE supplied kits. MLW was shortly thereafter closed, with the signing of NAFTA on the horizon being an important factor.

Before the delivery of 52, RS 51, 50, and a GE
coverage unit (2002) lead a W/B.
Bill Kalkman photo

    The first Super 7's were sent out in 1989 to demonstrate across North America. GE offered the 6 axles as warranty coverage on the side as well as demonstrators while the 4 axles went barnstorming across America to every class 2 railroad that was willing to test them. Major 4 axle demonstrators included Indiana Railway, Iowa Interstate, Missouri Pacific, Chicago Central, Roberval and Saguenay, and Monongahela, with the latter two generating orders of 2+1 (RS had two orders) and 10 (MGA's were on lease from GE) respectively. 

The 6 axle demonstrators spent time on the CNW, UP, BN, ATSF, and FNM, only generating orders from FNM. FNM would come to own the frightening majority of Super 7's built, using their extensive fleet of U30C's, ex-SP and ex-D&H U33C's, U36C's, U36CG's, C30-7's, and even a handful of C36-7's as rebuild cores. FNM would eventually run out of cores and buy a solitary order of Super 7-30C's in 1994 without cores, with GE responding with a microprocessor equipped, Dash 8 carbody and frame, 3000 horsepower "Super 7" built in 1994. 

GECX 5000 on the BN. Where the air cleaner would be on an M630 has
been replaced with dynamic brake equipment, and the air cleaner has
been moved below it.
Flickr user RRARTIST1 photo

 

Renumbered, but not repainted,
DL 3000 is resplendent in GE
paint. This unit was essentially
unchanged from BCOL.

Flickr user GCL 392 photo

    At the same time as FNM began purchasing rebuild kits en masse, GE purchased two M630's from BC Rail with the intent of developing a Super 7 equivalent for ALCO/MLW products. BCOL #705 and #706 arrived at Erie, with 705 being the first to go under the knife. While the M630 was electrically very similar to the Universal line, its frame, trucks, and layout were completely different, and instead of developing a Dash 8 carbody for the unit, GE simply reused the MLW built body with a general rebuild and rewire. GE also replaced the air filter cabinet with a new, modern air filter with GE's electrically blown dynamics present in other Super 7's and Dash 8's. Emerging as GECX #5000, the lone M630 Super 7 was sent off to demonstrate on FNM. For reasons unknown, the unit never made it to Mexico, and lay stored in Texas for a period of time until it was returned to Erie. GE sent it out a handful of times as a leaser, and gave 706 a minor rebuild and used it for testing, but both units would be orphaned for their entire time at Erie. Both units were sold to Delaware Lackawanna in the mid-2000's, with 5000 becoming 3007 (and garnering the nickname "The Brain" for its uniquity) and 706 becoming 3000.

    By 1993, the Dash 9 was introduced and the Dash 8 was quietly deprecated. While Super 7's would continue to be rebuilt by shops in Mexico with kits from GE, and FNM had one final order of microprocessor equipped units on the horizon, the Super 7 program was completed, with a final customer list of RS, MGA and FNM (later Ferromex). What became of them after the programs completion was varied depending on owner:

Bill Kalkman photo

• Roberval and Saguenay gave their Super 7's a long prolific life, from 1990 until 2023, when they were all three replaced by a handful of ex-CSX SD70ACe's and leased GP38-2's. The trio were scrapped in 2019.
  

 

 

• Monongahela's leased units went on to Conrail in 1993 after the merger of the former into the latter, where they operated virtually unchanged on the now former MGA route. The 1999 dissolution of Conrail into Conrail Shared Assets had the Super 7's split between CSX and NS, where CSX shoehorned them into service alongside equivalent B23-7's while NS did away with theirs very quickly. Two of them went to the Arkansas and Oklahoma Railroad, where they operate to this day, five went to Ohio Central, and the rest went to Providence and Worcester. OHCR's five units and PW's three were on the EPA "kill list" of non-complying G&W equipment to be destroyed following the January 2023 settlement of a lawsuit, with all eight intending to be torched within the following years. As of March 2024, Ohio Central's are still present and running on the property while PW's are stored serviceable.

A broadside shot of PW 2215.
After being purchased by G&W, PW's three units moved around
to various other roads, with 2215 here going to Connecticut Southern.
David Blazejewski photo

 

• FNM's massive fleet continued to operate well into the 2010's and 2020's, with the vast majority of the fleet soldiering on in road train service in Mexico. After privatization, the fleet went to various owners, including TFM and Ferromex, however they continue to be active road power across the country. 

FXE 3735 is still in its original rebuild paint in July 2023!
Note the Super 7 text on the hood, a staple of original Super 7 paint.
Carlos Moran photo

 

    EMD did not fare any better than GE with the rebuild-lease market. The BL20-2 demonstrator trio failed to generate any orders at all, with the three units being sent into leasing service by a joint GATX-EMD partnership, where they remain today. Meanwhile, while Universals are all but dead in secondhand and thirdhand ownership, early EMD products continue to motor along the Class 3's and industrial owners of North America. 

Ohio Central 4092 and 4093 roll along the Muskingum River
outside Zanesville, Ohio.
Scooter Hovanec photo

 

    It is easy to look at the Super 7 and deem it a failure due to the very small number built for North America, but it is worth noting that GE was not preoccupied with their construction at all. Outside of the demonstrators, the units were entirely contract built, and GE passively generated mileage for their own units by leasing and warranty coverage. While EMD only built 3 BL20-2's, GE built 16 Super 7-23B's for two customers and themselves, plus selling hundreds of kits to FNM to rebuild their own fleet of 6 axle GE's. At the same time as the Super 7's passively made themselves, GE had the time to upgrade Erie, develop new locomotives in the Dash 9 and AC4400CW, and bring their products to a wider market across North America. Ultimately, compared to unrebuilt Universals and given their lengthy service life, it's hard to say GE "failed" with the Super 7.