EMD GP16

The EMD GP16 is a series of rebuilt diesel-electric locomotives produced by the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in the late 1970s to avoid the cost of new motive power, by remanufacturing its ageing EMD GP7, GP9 and GP18 road switchers. A total of 155 locomotives were rebuilt, 122 from GP7, 31 from GP9 and two from GP18, at the railroad's Uceta Shops near Tampa, Florida, in about nine weeks each, saving almost half the cost of new units. The work included a rebuilt underframe, remanufactured Blomberg B trucks and motors, a 567 prime mover upgraded with EMD 645 components giving 1,600 horsepower on former GP7s, new brakes and a lowered nose with a new cab. The first emerged in June 1979 and the last in November 1982. Most stayed active until 1992 and many still run on short lines.