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Western Pacific F7
9I8-D
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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. |
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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 horsepower
. 918
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. |
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Last update: 4/4/23 |
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Including photos of current projects updated 7/6/05 |
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Recent photos of 918 at work (or being worked on) |
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Midlife ... 1965-1978 Perlman Green Years ... 1978-1981 New photos added - 2023! |
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New photos - 2023! |
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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
Copyright 2002-2023
Pacific Locomotive Association, Inc.
Site maintained by Dan Furtado
