Railroad Trains for the Soul: GE Super 7
In the late 1980's and 1990's, General Electric established a rebuild program called Super 7, which involved both Universal and Dash-7 diesel locomotives as the possible units to be remanufactured. The Super 7 program incorporated some of the features present on the DASH 8 Series (i.e., microprocessors, cabs, radiators). One of the models, designated Super 7-23B (B23-S7 or B23-7R), was ordered by the Monongahela Railway, a coal-hauling railroad that eventually became part of Conrail by 1993. The Super 7-23B is a four-axle locomotive originally built as the 2,300-horsepower U23B. The Monongahela units were rebuilt from former Western Pacific U-boats, and one of these was initially operated as a GE demonstrator. This relatively small coal hauler was the only American railroad to acquire Super 7 locomotives directly from the builder.
While the Super 7 models look very similar to the DASH 8, there are at least a couple of spotting differences to consider. They occur primarily on the roofline and the radiators. A typical DASH 8 locomotive has a major roof step between the engine compartment and the dynamic brakes, and it usually has fully angled radiator vents at the rear. In contrast, a Super 7 unit has a slightly steep grade on its roofline and partially angled vents in the radiator compartment. The Monongahela Railway is certainly one of CSX’s predecessors as Conrail became a fallen flag in 1999, although Norfolk Southern painted one of its GE ES44AC units in the gray Monongahela livery for its heritage fleet in 2012.
Click on the links below for more info about Super 7’s:
Monongahela RWY Super-7R' GE's, pass the detector, at Home, PA 6 /15 /1990
Here's a closer look at the Monongahela Super 7-23B diesel. I hope this helps you understand the external differences between the Super 7 rebuilds and the normal DASH 8 Series.
Facebook photo credit: American-Rails.com
