Nostalgia & History > a request for pix of espee low-nose gp-9s (stories, too

tonyj's kind sharing of some of his espee geep9 pictures got me reminiscing about the comparative handfull (?) of low-nose '9s the espee had. special fondness, here, since the sp 3713 was the first locomotive i ever got to run.

ya might think i'd remember for sure, but i don't, about whether that unit had the first-generation emd "barrel" control stand or the second-gen "plastic" stand. also, 24 or 26 brake valve? failing minds want to know.

i'd appreciate seeing any pix of low-nose '9s (any road, but especially sp) and recollections that old-head hoggers might care to offer. thanks in advance. eljay

Heres 5890 west leaving Roseville Yard in the early 60's. I have a section on my website of SP geeps both high and low nose.

http://www.snowcrest.net/photobob/gindex.html

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a great pic! thanks for sharing. eljay

Here is one that was on the Lovelock Local, 2 September 1985 at Fernley, NV.

Jim

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The 5877 was renumbered to the 3713 in 1965. I don't know if photobob intentionally posted the 5877 because it later became the 3713 or not.

The low-nose Geeps, when delivered in 1959, were numbered from 5872 to 5891. They became the 3708 to the 3727 in 1965. Five of them were eventually renumbered into the switcher number series in 1978.

This group of engines were equipped with what was to become the early version of the "new" control stand which was almost almost identical to the control stand of the SD-40s and -45s and had 26L brake equipment. Most of the old guys that I worked with preferred the 24RL brake valve.

I like them except for the fact they didn't pay as much as the older Geeps because they only weighed 248,00 pounds. Most others weighed between 250,000 and 253,000 pounds. This was a big difference for an engineer especially when your usual consist was only two of the engines while in helper service out of Colton. The breaking point, pay wise, was at 500,000 pounds. So, if you had one of these low-nose engines the total weight would be less than 500,000 pounds so you got the next lower rate.


steamjocky

Here's 3721 at the San Jose, CA roundhouse in 1972. It's the only shot I have of a GP9 with its class lights on. Also note it still has footboards, and has a red gyralight casing. This was painted gray on the other low-nose GP9s I saw.

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Any pics of SP 3878?

Here's the 3878 at Watsonville Junction, CA, Feb. 7, 1987

Geep Wrote:
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> Any pics of SP 3878?

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Here's the 3882 on the Santa Cruz Local at Davenport, CA, on Feb. 10, 1986.

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PullmanPorter Wrote:
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> and has a red gyralight casing. This
> was painted gray on the other low-nose GP9s I saw.

The reason it's painted red is because it's a replacement door from an externally mounted Gyralight from another unit, such as a high-nose Geep or SD9, or an SW1500.