By the mid-1970’s, the thousands of first generation locomotives were showing the age after 20 years or so of service. Long since replaced on most Class 1 mainlines, by newer more powerful locomotives, old GP7’s and GP9’s had been reassigned to locals, road switchers, and yard jobs. To extend the life of the locomotives without buying new ones, many railroads had begun rebuilding programs. The GP15 series was introduced by EMD in 1976 as an alternative to these rebuilding programs. As originally conceived, it was intended that old units be traded in and components such as the trucks reused to make the cost comparable to a rebuilt unit. The GP15-1 was a 1,500 horsepower, 4-axle unit using a non-turbocharged 12-cylinder 645 engine. It differed from the rest of the contemporary geeps by having roof mounted radiators and side intakes like the “tunnel motor” locomotives. There were two major external differences in the GP15-1 production. C&NW and Frisco opted for car body air intakes like a GP7, while Missouri Pacific and Conrail chose a central air intake like the contemporary Dash 2 series. Missouri Pacific’s last order replaced the generator with an alternator. In 1982, Chessie System (C&O) acquired a new model, the GP15T. It was similar to the last GP15-1’s with a central air intake and an alternator, but differed by having a turbocharged 8-cylinder 645 engine and dynamic brakes.

Conrail ordered 100 GP15-1s in 1979. Intended for secondary and branch line trains, they featured snowplows on both ends for bidirectional use. Signal boxes were also standard equipment, allowing the GP15s to be used for road service when required. Most survived till the end of Conrail, and were split between NS and CSX- frequently while still in their Conrail blue paint.

Features:

• Fully-assembled and ready-to-run
• DCC-ready features Quick Plug plug-and-play technology with both 8- and 9-pin connector
• Scaled from prototype resources including drawings, field measurements, photographs, and more
• Accurately-painted and printed paint schemes
• Coupler cut levers
• MU hoses
• Trainline hose
• See through cab windows
• Full cab interior
• Walkway tread
• Fine scale Celcon handrails for scale appearance
• Windshield wipers
• Lift rings
• Wire grab irons
• Detailed fuel tank with fuel fillers, fuel gauges, & breather pipes
• Sander lines
• McHenry scale knuckle couplers - Kadee compatible
• Genesis driveline with 5-pole skew wound motor, precision machined flywheels, and multi-link drivetrain
• All-wheel drive with precision gears for smooth & quiet operation
• All-wheel electrical pickup provides reliable current flow
• Wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track
• Incandescent bulbs for realistic appearance
• Heavy die-cast frame for greater traction and more pulling power

DCC w/Sound Features:

• Onboard DCC decoder with SoundTraxx Tsunami sound
• Sound units operate in both DC and DCC
• Full DCC functions available when operated in DCC mode
• Engine, horn, and bell sounds work in DC
• All functions NMRA compatible in DCC mode
• Excellent Slow speed control
• Operating lighting functions with F5 and/or F6 (Flashing ditch lights, beacon, etc)
• Program a multiple unit (MU) lashup with lead unit only horn, bell, and lights
• Many functions can be altered via Configuration Value (CV) changes
• CV chart included

Road Specific Features:

• As delivered appearance
  
• Inertial air filter with large blower duct
  
• Cab mirrors per prototype
  
• Conrail unique conductor’s side nose grab iron
  
• S3L low profile horn
  
• Blomberg-B trucks
  
• EMD style low plows front & rear
  
• Signal box
• Era: 1979+