NS Merger GP9's

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Am wanting to model a Norfolk Southern (Thourghbred) GP9 in USA Trains large scale 1:29 and need to know if there were ever any actual GP 9's that were numbered for NS even though they may not have recieved the throughbred paint. I want the GP9 to be as factual as possible numberwise. Anyone have any info at about the merger time of any GP9 road numbers? Any answer will be appreciated. Thanks, Ricky

-- Ricky Rupp (rarupp@hotmail.com), November 06, 2002

Answers

Ricky,

I guess the answer to your question is yes and no. There were no "true" GP9s that were ever painted into the Thoroughbred scheme. According to the Withers & Bowers NS 1982-1994 Motive Power Review, there were 333 GP9s still on the NS roster at the time of the merger in '82. Soon thereafter, NS began ridding itself of its GP9s and by the mid-80s all were gone except for one unit kept for training in McDonald, GA.

However, a few rebuilt/reconfigured GP9s did make it into NS paint. NS 903 was a GP9 that had half of it's cylinders removed by N&W before the merger. Therefore it had half the horsepower and a designation probably only found on the NS...a GP4.5! The carbody of 903 remained basically the same except that the radiator grills and fan furthest from the cab were removed. 903 was retired in 1987.

NS also rostered 4 GP9Rs (3 were repainted into NS: 2000, 2002, 2003) that were rebuilt GP9s. These units were rebuilt in the late '70s and had their noses chopped when rebuilt. The GP9Rs were retired at the end of 1991.

Finally, in the early/mid-80s NS replaced the prime mover in five GP9s and re-designated them TC10s (100-104). These would take a little more work to accurately model as the carbody had some alterations. There were five carbody filters added above the engine compartment and the radiator grills and fan closest to the cab were removed. The TC10s were retired in the mid/late-90s. Hope this helps some.

Scott Marion

-- Scott Marion (nsrailfan@hotmail.com), November 08, 2002.


I was in training (signal dept) in Georgia and took a picture of the only true NS GP9 left at the training center. The number is 6254

-- Turner McCarley (tmccarleyt@infoave.net), September 12, 2003.

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