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Western Pacific F7
9I8-D
918 on Altamont Pass eastbound on the point of the San Jose Manifest and a load of new Fords on June 18, 1980.
Photo by Alan Barrett.

WP 918-D is an EMD F7 , serial number 8973 , built on January 27, 1950 .  She is powered by a 16 cylinder EMD engine and has 1500 horsepower918 is one of 48 F7's ordered by WP (24 "A" units and 24 "B" units). 913 - 921 were built in 1950 while the  922 - 924 four unit A-B-B-A sets were built a year later. 918-D met her end on the Western Pacific on March 30, 1981 while heading eastbound over Altmont pass .  She was the trailing unit of the San Jose Turn and managed to have her main electrical cabinet catch on fire.  Before much could be done, most of the wiring in the cabinet was in ruins.  After being deemed "uneconomical to repair", she was unceremoniously parked next to the Stockton roundhouse to be used as a parts source for the 2 other F units still on the roster.  A member of the Pacific Locomotive Association ( Jim Evans by name) wrote the W.P. and asked for the donation of a F unit.  We were offered this one as the other 2 (917 and 921) were still in service (the 913 had been donated to the CSRM in 1981).  Never being afraid to accept a challenge or blissfully unaware of severity of her condition, the club decided to accept the 918 (on 12/1/81) and it was delivered to Castro Point on June 19, 1982.

918 currently resides in Niles Canyon,  which is located between Fremont and Sunol, Ca. in the San Francsico Bay Area . She is operated on weekend train sthrough the canyon, including the annual Train Of Lights trains that oeprate aorund the holidays. As of early 2023, she is out of service, awaiting some repairs to the brake system.

click to enlarge
918 along with b-unit back into the engine house at Portola on February 22, 1970.
Photo by Russ Hatch

-What's New (update log)
Last update: 4/4/23
-Cosmetic Restoration (2002-2005)
Oakland
Phase Two restoration work:
Including photos of current projects
updated 7/6/05
918 Crew
  918 on YouTube
  918 in Niles Canyon
Recent photos of 918 at work (or being worked on)
918 Historic Photos:
Early Years ...1950-1965
Midlife ... 1965-1978
Perlman Green Years ... 1978-1981
New photos added - 2023!
- 918 Audio/Video
-918's Surviving Sisters
- WP F-Unit Photo Gallery
New photos - 2023!
-Email
-Links

If you have any photos of 918, or any WP f-units that you would like to share,
please shoot me a message!

Click to enlarge

918 made her Niles Canyon debut on Member's Day - July 4th, 2005
918 is wearing replica EMD "as delivered" number boards that were soon replaced with
with period-correct "918-D" boards that it ran with for most of its career.
Photo by Dan Furtado

More photos of 918 in Niles Canyon since 2005

September 2004 Club Car article on 918


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Pacific Locomotive Association, Inc.

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