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GP11 8701 |
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Unknown Photographer (Jim Jones Collection) |
| Illinois Central, and later
Illinois Central Gulf, was having so much success rebuilding geeps that
they started buying units that were from other railroads. UP 318B
was one such a unit and the fact it didn't have a cab wasn't as bad you
would first think. It was built by EMD in September, 1957 and
bought by ICG in November of 1979 to be built into GP11 8701. After successfully building the first
GP11(8301) in 1978, the Paducah Shops produced another 53(8701-53)
GP11's starting in 1979. While 8701 should have been next, it wasn't
released until July of 1979 after several other eighty-seven-hundred GP11's
had already been released. One could speculate that the Shops were
still working out the kinks. 8701 was repainted into the new IC
black and white scheme, and stayed with the railroad until November
28th, 2000 when it was donated to the city of Carbondale,
Illinois. It is currently on static display there.
Notes: This unit appears to have been "touched-up" several times and eventually the sill ended up being orange. Note the lack of a "GP11" tag. Tags weren't applied until the 8710 unit. Date in Solid Orange: July 9th 1979 - ?? |
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