Great Northern 454A

GENERAL MOTORS (EMD) F7 1500 H.P. 4-MOTOR FREIGHT LOCOMOTIVE

This F7 beauty, formerly located at Bandana Square in St. Paul, has been donated to the Minnesota Transportation Museum. It is former Burlington Northern 668, originally Great Northern 454A. Here is BN 668 in GN Paint at Spokane, WA May 1974 - Kodachrome from the Estate of John Herrick, Courtesy Barry Moore. It is a significant addition to the museum's collection, since it is one of a handfull of surviving Great Northern cab units, and chances are good it was serviced at the museum's former GN Jackson Street Roundhouse - where it resides today. 454A is also considered part of MTM's GN streamlined train set.

GN 454A was built in March, 1950 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors, builder's number 9544. It was the first unit of a matched A-B-B-A set (454A,454B,454C,454D) built for freight service. Internally, it was powered by a 16-567-B prime mover, a diesel V-16 which produced 1,500 horsepower. The complete four-unit set was thus a 6,000 horsepower locomotive, roughly equivalent to contemporary steam locomotives.

BN 668 leads an A-B-B-A set of BN F7s pulling BN train # 123 at Fridley, MN on August 19, 1978. This train worked from Northtown to St. Cloud and Dilworth. - Kodachrome by Eugene Hetherington from the Estate of John Herrick, Courtesy Barry Moore

BN 668 was completely overhauled at Burlington Northern's Dale Street shops in St. Paul, MN in January 1976 at which time it received the BN Cascade Green paint scheme and snowplow pilot. Prior to rebuilding, BN 668 had been the last F-unit in the original Great Northern paint scheme. The Dale Street shops were closed in June 1976, and BN 668 was retired in March 1981. BN 668 at BN's Northtown diesel facility in Minneapolis, MN July 17, 1979 - Kodachrome from Ralph Back Collection

GN 454A is MTM's second former GN "F-unit." It joins heater car 16, the former F3B 458B, originally GN 306B, on the museum roster.

Here is a list of surviving Great Northern F units, taken from Andrew Toppan's Surviving F Units List.

Because its innards have been removed, 454A will likely be restored for exhibit only. Does anyone have any F7 innards they'd like to donate? 454A would look great leading MTM's six Great Northern streamlined passenger cars.

Sources:

1. "Great Northern Color Pictorial Volume 1", by Joseph W. Shine; GN 454A photos p69 and p74.
2. "Burlington Northern 1976-77 Annual", by F. Hol Wagner, Jr.; BN 668 photos p108-p110.
3. "Burlington Northern 1980-1991 Annual", by Robert C. Del Grosso; BN F7 dispositions p179.
4. "GREAT NORTHERN In Color Volume 1: Lines West", by David H. Hickcox; GN F7 A-B-B-A 454D,454C,454B,454A photo top of p15.

Last updated: 09/04/2007

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