The Appalachia Northern (APPN) is a relatively small Class 1 operating in the Eastern/Central United States and Canada. Formed in 1921 from a merger between the Greater Appalachia Railroad (GARR) and the Buffalo, Montreal, and Northern (BMN), the railroad quickly gained a reputation for carving paths through the scenic mountains of the eastern half of North America.

This collection contains a selection of Appalachia Northern power one might expect to see in the mid 1950s, at the height of the Transition Era, when railroads were replacing the venerable iron horse with newer, more standardized diesel locomotives. The Appalachia Northern maintained its steam fleet in service into the 1960s as a result of large investments in retrofitting their existing fleet with improvements designed to reduce the technological gap between steam and diesel.


Lima 2-8-4 "Berkshire" Steam Locomotive

For many years, steam was king on the Appalachia Northern. Robust, mid-size engines like the 2-8-4 "Berkshire" and 2-10-4 "Selkirk" hauled the bulk of the APPN's freight and passengers through the smoky mountains and stony tunnels that characterized the road. However, even the legendary "Kirks and Berks" would soon find themselves obsolete. Unwilling to invest completely in the still-new diesel power, the APPN employed the Advanced Machinery Company of Magnum, Pennsylvania (MAMCO) to design equipment that could be retrofitted to existing steam locomotives in order to help them catch up with diesels. Such equipment included tender-axle dynamic braking, automatic fire tending, and the revolutionary Steam Master multiple unit control system, which allowed steam locomotives of the same class to operate in multiple with one another, just like a diesel could. Many of APPN's locomotives would be fitted with this system by MAMCO and by the Montreal-based Laboratorie de Technologie Industrielle du Canada (LTIduC) under license.

ALCO 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" Steam Locomotive

As the Appalachia Northern grew as a business and saw their cargo haulage increase in kind, the need for powerful, heavy locomotives to pull freight over the steep mountain grades became apparent. For that reason, the Big Boys were developed. Only a few modifications were necessary from ALCO's existing design for the Union Pacific's 4-8-8-4s to suit APPN's specifications. The Big Boys proved themselves useful on both the steep grades and the flatter trackage in APPN's domain, as the high horsepower and large driving wheels allowed them to reach impressive speeds. Sadly, as the tendrils of dieselization affected even the reluctant APPN, the monstrous locomotives were retired, outlasted only by the upgraded, smaller locomotives like the Berkshires. Several of the iconic Big Boy locomotives are mothballed to this day in the APPN's Anthracite River locomotive shops for future sale or preservation.

EMD F7 Diesel Locomotive

The ubiquitous bulldog-nose F units manufactured by EMD and its Canadian subsidiary, GMDD, were the face of dieselization in North America. The number of railroads to purchase these locomotives was colossal, and the APPN was no exception. Though reluctant to abandon the locomotives and infrastructure that had served the company during the steam era, APPN saw the advantages of diesel-electric power. The high tractive effort of the diesel proved to be too tempting for the mountain railroad to resist, and it would soon find itself flush with the new locomotives. The F7s were fewer in number on the APPN than the prior F3s, but could still be found on many trains in both passenger and freight service. Carbody units of other manufacture, such as ALCO/MLW, Fairbanks Morse/CLC, and even a few Baldwin units shared the roster with the iconic F7. Many F units would later be rebuilt with the newer 645 series diesel engines, and redesignated as F38s, and some still operate on APPN branch routes today.

EMD F9 Diesel Locomotive

Unlike the previous F3 and F7 locomotives, the F9s demonstrated a paradigm shift in the Appalachia Northern. Only four of the locomotives were purchased by APPN, and no cabless B units were obtained. This is because APPN, being a railroad with no small number of grades, found the 6-axle heavy duty locomotives introduced by locomotive manufacturers to be more attractive. Still, the four F9s faithfully performed long tours of duty for the APPN, and all four made it into the F38 rebuild program later in life. Perhaps most significantly, the locomotives would play a part in the APPN ordering Australian-inspired 6-axle A7 locomotives, combining the traditional F unit carbody with the lugging power of Flexicoil C trucks.