Canadian construction of the F7B took place at London, Ontario, between April 1951 and May 1952 with 43 units built (CN – 18, CP – 25) while the 46 strong fleet of F9B locomotives were delivered between January 1954 and July 1958 (CN – 38, CP – 8). CN and CP both used them on passenger and freight service.
When originally released in 2012 as part of Rapido’s landmark “The Canadian” trainset, the F9B was widely regarded as being the last word in B-unit accuracy. Our Canadian GMD F9B was designed from the ground up as a Canadian GMD F9B. There were five versions alone of the CN F9B with its unique single louver in place of the centre porthole (this second run includes two variants), while the CP versions feature their equally unique body style with three portholes per side and 48″ dynamic brake cooling fans, as well as CP winterization hatches, CP grilles, CP cooling coils, CP end details, CP steam genny details, and of course CP’s unique skirting beside the steps that no other F9B model has.
Rapido F7Bs and F9Bs feature unmatched levels of detail that border on the insane, such as all-separate piping under the frame, hanging rerailers with chains holding them in place, and fuel and water tank vents sticking up out of the roof – still only available in Rapido’s F-unit models! The body sides feature our unique “No-Warp Grilles.” Each grille is a C-channel pressed into the shell that won’t warp no matter what humidity and temperature changes it is subjected to.
Photos courtesy of Darrell Lupson