Below WM #5961 pushes a Chessie WM insulated boxcar into
a siding. GP9s like this one were seen system wide performing these
sorts of local moves. Notice the unique bell positioned on the nose,
clearly showing off this units former C&O heritage. Although
this scene has a WM locomotive and a WM boxcar, it could be anywhere on
the Chessie System, as this equipment freely roamed the entire system.
Below #5961 leads two insulated boxcars down the line
on a local switch job. That first car is in the original B&O
insulated boxcar paint job while the second one has gotten a new coat of
Chessie paint.
Below is a typical location for a GP9 in a main line consist.
GP9s were old by the Chessie Era, so were rarely on the point of any consist.
Engineers prefer creature comforts, like sitting in the newest locomotive
available. If GP7s or GP9s were in a mainline consist at all, they
were in the middle 90%+ of the time.
Below is another shot of the same consist. The lead
unit today is a GP38 in its original B&O paint job. The trailing
unit is a Chessie painted GP40. Locomotive consists of three locomotives
in the Chessie era almost always looked like this. One or two of
the locomotives would be painted Chessie and one or two painted in their
predecessor paint jobs. The two end units faced out, while the middle
unit faced either direction. The oldest unit was almost always in
the middle.