Minuteman Diesels Episode 2: The GP7s

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the EMD GP7, or "Geep", emerged as one of the most successful diesel locomotives ever produced. On the Boston & Maine, they served for over thirty years in passenger and freight service. In this episode, we'll dive into the development of the GP7, the Boston & Maine's acquisitions, and their legacy on the Route of the Minuteman.

[@TheMillennialModeler]

I literally live nowhere near Boston or Maine. I don’t have any particular affinity for the B&M at all, but I have more than I ever did before because these videos are so well produced. I wish every RR historical society was putting out quality content like this.

[@bmrrhs]

Thank you for the kind words. Glad you are enjoying!

[@AGSGuy]

Completely agree, I'm in the same boat having being born and raised in the deep south. While I have no interest in the B&M, I have a overwhelmingly amount of respect towards you and your videos you pump out for the B&M's roster, and I can't help but find myself always gravitating towards these documentaries. I really hope that others notice these videos and start doing the same for their own fallen flags. Keep up the amazing work

[@codystrainsnjazz]

I am in the exact same boat. Very well said.

[@anthonyhunt701]

B&M bought Geeps early! From Chicago & a big fan of your videos!❤🚂

[@Trains-With-Shane]

This was an excellent documentary. Being born and raised in Texas I've never seen any B&M hardware and hadn't researched any of their history other than seeing a snipped about them on a Guillford video. But the GP7 brought me here and I was not disappointed! These old workhorses propelled EMD to its dominance on American rails through the 80's. Again very well researched, edited, and narrated film!

[@brentmiller3951]

I love train history. My father worked for Southern Pacific so I got lots of train rides on the Oregon coast in the entire 80's and early 90's .Everything trains reminds me of my father .great video.

[@bearowen5480]

It's amazing that is wonderfully comprehensive video popped up for me late today. My cousin, L C. Owen, and I were working together all day setting up an O and G gauge train auction for tomorrow under the auspices of the Colorado Toy Train Foundation. L.C. is a recently retired AMTRAK California Zephyr engineer where he operated that famous name train from Denver to Grand Junction for many years. I was proud to join the wellwishing entourage of family and friends for L.C.'s retirement trip a year ago in October. L.C. AKA "Larry", has a beautiful 3-rail O scale basement layout in his home in Castle Rock, Colorado. A native son of the Boston area, L.C. began his railroading career with the venerable B&M right out of high school and worked his way up to engine service before transferring to AMTRAK on the Northeast Corridor, ultimately operating the Acela from Boston to New York City before bidding out to Denver to run the Zephyr over the most spectacularly scenic mountain route in the entire AMTRAK system. While setting up tomorrow's auction at the American Legion Post 161 in Arvada, CO today we chatted about operating B&M's fleet of Budd RDC cars in commuter service on the BMTA. He explained about how some RDCs at the B&M had been intentionally purchased without prime movers or control cabs for multiple unit Budd car commuter trains, a configuration I had never heard about before today. He also explained that as the original powerplants reached the end of their service life, the RDCs were re-engined with Cummins Diesel prime movers. He also told me that the B&M had experimented with using a Geep on one end of a Budd Car train in a push-pull configuration. When proven successful after MU incompatibility issues had been worked out with modified MU cabling, this became standard practice, first with B&M Geeps, and later with EMD F-40s. You can imagine my surprise upon returning home this evening and turning on my phone to find your B&M diesel video had popped up on KZbin with much of the same info about GP,7s and-9s, as well as the fascinating Budd Car history at B&M. Thanks for your excellent series of episodes on a very historic New Engand railroad that we rail fans out here in the West don't know much about!

[@aceadman]

Really enjoyable AND educational. More fantastic work. These documentaries are so well presented. Thanks again! 👍👍😊

[@sjwhitney]

Definitely the best presentation to date by virtue of all the significant details of the operations of the GP-7 fleet. Loved seeing my own footage in there being used in some of the various montages. It's certainly the best use of the scenes. My greatest memory of GP-7 use was the day of the very last Claremont & Concord excursion to Newport. A pair of GP-7s was leading southbound B&M train JS-4 with a 70-car freight of mostly paper loads out of Berlin, NH. From the time the train rounded the bend into sight at Claremont until it got to the crossing was about 15-20 minutes of just the most brutal drag you have ever seen. We had camped out in our regular location there and were atop the farm bridge to witness it and I get imaging of it as well as an audio recording. They simply soldiered on without stopping or even slipping. Best engines B&M ever had!!

[@northcoast261]

I searched 'B&M' and this video popped up, just uploaded! What a treat! The B&M had the best fleet of EMD GP7s and GP9s in my opinion.

[@user-mr3ct1dm9p]

Remember reading a TRAINS magazine story, that stated there probably would not be a B&M RR, if it were not for the Geeps. They did everthing that was asked of them, and there dependability kept the RR going in the lean years. What a interesting, neat RR, all unfortunately memories now.

[@aaronmailhiot624]

The gp7s era was about the same as my great grandfathers time at b&m he was part of maintenance from after ww2 when he got back from over seas till 1981 when he died of cancer and to see 1560 be reliable for its entire service to the point where it’s still alive today is absolutely amazing and made me tear up a bit

[@ronniefarnsworth6465]

What a "Great" video and so well done just fantastic ! 👍 This brought back so many fond memories for me when I started to rainfan with my Father and older Brother in the mid 60s when I was a small Yout and enjoy then the many local freights from Boston through Lynn (my home) and to the Castle Hill yard in Salem, Ma . We went there all the time watching the many Locals going all over to Peabody, Danvers, Wakefield, Ipswich, Topsfield, Newburyport, Gloucester and Lynn ! So much to see from the 1960s through the 1970s at all those places. Fewer later but still into the 1990s. SWs, NWs, Alco S-types, RS-3 and GP7, GP9, GP18 and a few F7A's I Miss those days !! 😔 I've lived right on the mainline in Exeter, NH since 1995' and seen all the great variety of the engines from the Guilford era to Pan Am 👍 Now sadly its CSX and mostly Wide Cab "Computers" ! 👎

[@duncanholden2826]

I love that almost all photos and videos used not relating to BM still feature railroads of New England like MEC and BAR. This video was made with love.

[@NorthmassRails]

Fantastic production! I live very close to the Billerica shops and I always love to see the old pictures of the place! Thank you for your great work

[@raycooney7632]

Thanks for now covering B&M diesels. Good job!

[@22pcirish]

Fascinating. I speak as a British freight train driver.

[@rjb5847]

Great video. I worked for Canadian Pacific for 37 years & have been retired for some time now. We sometimes had leased B &M units in the early 70s & they were generally confined to the Windsor to Montreal corridor including London Ontario terminal where I was. We ran to Windsor, Toronto & Hamilton & return from London. Units included RS-3s & in both Minutemen & the blue paint, F-7s in blue & GP-7s in the Minuteman scheme. In early spring of 1974, I was head end brakeman on CP train 916 out of Windsor headed to London. We had what might be one the best railfan engine consists ever. In the lead B&M GP-7 1567 (or may have been 1576), leased PECO black RS-27 900 & a CP FA-1. It was a freezing rain that night & when I left the engine to pick up cars at Chatham, the handrails seemed to be about 3 inches in diameter. I made the move without incident anyway & we continued on to London. Another crew took the train to Toronto from there. I recall the Minuteman on the cab sides & thought I wish I had a camera with me at the time.

[@frankgrabasse4642]

Excellent content! Great editing, clear audio, Please do southern parts of the B&M.

[@colinbuckowski3400]

Incredibly well-produced, the Steam and the Diesel series have been so enjoyable. Invaluable knowledge and information in here! 10/10

[@MillersRailfan]

This is an amazing, thoughtful, thoroughly researched epic film I am so proud to be a member of the Boston & Maine Railroad Historical Society Thank you so very very much; Rick This was extraordinarily fun to watch

[@user-dg2ok8jo8e]

Good video makes me remember when I was younger with my grandfather help fueling the rock and Illinois central at his bulk station

[@centeroftheearthmining4095]

You should release your videos on DVDs. Fantastic!!

[@armandoperez7967]

Beautiful video! Come on CSX, we want to see Maine Central and Boston & Maine heritage units! Bring them on!

[@kristoffermangila]

You just have to see the Minuteman and the Pine Tree at the rear end, eh?

[@olentangyriver1191]

Amazing content and lovely narration voice ❤

[@centexrails]

Excellent video. Thanks for sharing your work.

[@plunkervillerr1529]

In Plunkerville N.H. it was 58 degrees today. In a few days, we`ll be hearing the Swamp peepers at Dusk.

[@ryans1010]

I love the Conway scenic 573 GP7 ❤

[@joepepi7394]

Love all your videos,great job.

[@RippysRails]

Great Job!

[@trainglen22]

Great video.

[@gregleuze6657]

Another great video.

[@Kendallian132]

Great job Rick. I wonder if Preston Cook might be able to help with finding schematics/drawings/photos of the train lighting equipment? He had access to all of EMD's archives when he worked at LaGrange.

[@sernajrlouis]

Great video

[@FreihEitner]

Interesting that both B&M and Rock Island changed from maroon & gold to blue & white as they sank into bankruptcy.

[@0fficialdregs]

it would be interesting if you model the B&M and gave it a better fictional history than what happen after it was acquired.

[@theatomicmanman544]

The 7s are the OGs but the 9s are God like

[@ddthompson42]

At 10:00 (and other places), what are the items hanging from hooks directly above the rear truck?

[@bmrrhs]

Re-railers, which can be used as a ramp of sorts to help in the case of a derailment

[@stuew6]

I look for next locomotives Rs3/2 , Rs11 , Gp18

[@stuew6]

I own a Ho scale Proto 2000 locomotives SW9 is BM

[@robertgift]

Well done! Thank you. How ugly. Never understood why they made the highoodimiting visibility.

[@robertbalazslorincz8218]

"Swiss Army Knife of a locomotive" *EMDs up building the T-34 tank of locomotives instead*

[@koiyujo1543]

17:42 that sucks these mfs really gotten people hurt

[@jeffreyaumand6447]

Sure beats the hell out of anything Guilford ST GRS Pan Am.

[@MillersRailfan]

Absolutely Destroy every trace of Mellon

[@A_Lazy_dude]

First comment and amazing video!

[@tropicalties3806]

The purchase of the GP7s was a financial mistake. That and several other equipment purchases helped accelerate the B&M into oblivion. From a railfans point of view, yes they were neat little machines. They took a beating over the decades but got most jobs done successfully.

[@jr56440]

Ok, what would've been a better decision?

[@tropicalties3806]

@@jr56440 Paying off overdue bonds, and mortgages to pull themselves out of the red. The list is much longer than those two examples.

[@user-mr3ct1dm9p]

If anything-- if the B&M had NOTpurchased the GP7's, they might not have been solvent as long as they were. They were good locos,and owed the B&M nothing.if anything, maybe if B&M got out of the passenger/commuter business sooner, that might have helped .AND, the overall loss of traditional industries in New England did not help.

[@tropicalties3806]

@@user-mr3ct1dm9p They weren't solvent. The B&M statistically never paid off their debts. They started in the red during 1921 and never recovered. Receivership dawned the railroad less than 25 years after it's formation.

[@user-mr3ct1dm9p]

@@tropicalties3806 Well, running a RR in New England was not real easy. But they did the best they could--- unlike Guilford, or Springfield Terminal,or PanAm, those guys couldn't even keep a name straight, or locos in service. It doesn't matter now,as it's all gone---BUT--- THE B&M will be remembered with affection.