HO GP15-1Locomotive , Missouri Pacific #1562 Overview
The mid 1970s saw many railroads rebuilding their first generation GP7 and GP9 locomotives. Recognizing this, EMD seized on it by offering the GP15-1 allowing railroads to purchase a new locomotive that reused components from traded-in GP7s and GP9s while receiving tax advantages making the GP15-1 competitively priced with rebuilding old geeps. The Missouri Pacific liked the idea and the first 20 GP15-1s, road numbers 1555-1574, would arrive in June and July 1976 on the railroad. Mopac used the GP15-1 across the entire system like the utilitarian GP7 it replaced, and it quickly found a home on branchlines, local and Traveling Switch Engine (TSE) service, yard switching, and as extra power for mainline trains. The Mopac would ultimately have 160 on the roster with an additional 30 GP15ACs, accounting for over half of the 372 GP15-1s and varieties built with Conrail's 100 being a distant second.
The EMD GP15-1 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between June 1976 and March 1982. Intended to provide an alternative to the rebuilding programs that many railroads were applying to their early road switchers, it is generally employed as a yard switcher or light road switcher. A total of 310 units were built for American railroads. A number of GP15-1s remain in service today for yard work and light road duty.
EMD built 28 examples of a variant, the GP15T, between October 1982 and April 1983. It was a very close cousin to the GP15-1, but used a turbocharger in order to generate more power from a smaller engine.