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Sierra Northern GP7u

(Requested by Hillsidewestern12).

(Requires the GP9 Low Nose Template by Valkyrie Lead).

The Sierra Northern is a ‘common carrier’ railroad in California, with headquarters in the city of Woodland. It operates trains over 99 miles of track, and along the following routes:

Oakdale to Standard (57.4 miles)
Woodland to West Sacramento (16 miles)
Fort Bragg to Willits a.k.a. “The Skunk Train” (40 miles)

Incidentally one of the engines that hauls the Skunk Train is the famed Sierra Railroad No. 3, a 4-6-0 steam locomotive that has appeared in several films over the years, most notably in Back to the Future 3.

SERA (that’s the Sierra Northern’s reporting mark) was created in 2003 through a merger of the Sierra Railroad and the Yolo Shortline Railroad. Today the railroad operates a fleet of small road switcher locomotive types such as the EMD GP20, GP9, Railpower RP20BD and the EMD GP7 / GP7u. Engine No. 134 - the low-nose GP7u - is the subject of this re-skin.

Sierra Northern 134 was built in 1952 for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway, originally their number 2704. In 1976 she was rebuilt with a low-nose and renumbered to 2089. She remained in service past the BNSF merger in 1995, but ended up being sold to the Yolo Shortline Railroad soon after.

As stated previously, the Yolo Shortline merged with the Sierra Railway in 2003 to create the present day Sierra Northern, and 134’s livery was adjusted to suit the new name. Today GP7u No. 134 is still in service, which is quite impressive given that she’s now 69 years old.