Western Pacific 925-C
EMD F9Bu
Model: F9Bu
Builder: General Motors Diesel Canada
Built: 1951
Operating Weight: 249,000 lbs. (124.5 Tons)
Builder #: A-214
Length: 50 ft. 0 in.
Status: Out of service (no batteries)
Western Pacific's "covered wagon" (an affectionate nickname for these carbody type locomotives) fleet consisted of an equal number of "A" cab control units and "B" booster units. As the units grew old and were traded in on newer, higher horsepower units, the "B" units were first to go because of the versatility of the cab equipped "A" unit. By the time the Feather River Rail Society established its Portola Railroad Museum all of the WP "B" units were gone. Still, a "B" unit was desired to represent this type of locomotive in our collection.
In the late 1980's, the Canadian National Railway still had some "B" units that they had recently sold for scrap. Arrangements were made to purchase one of the units in operating condition and restore it to represent a WP "B" unit. This unit was repainted in WP's classic orange and silver "Zephyr" paint scheme and given a fictitious WP number.
The reasoning behind its "fictitious number": WP's last F7B was numbered 924-C, so we numbered this one 925-C (the "B" suffix units had steam generators, the "C" suffix ones did not, and ours does not have a steam generator, hence the "C" suffix).
Photo by Mike Mucklin
Photo by Paul Finnegan - 7/31/2004
Photo by Paul Finnegan - 8/12/2017
Photo by Paul Finnegan - 8/12/2017
Photo by Paul Finnegan - 8/12/2017
Photo by Paul Finnegan - 8/12/2017
Photo by Paul Finnegan - 8/12/2017
Photo by Paul Finnegan - 8/12/2017
Photo by Paul Finnegan - 8/12/2017
Photo by Paul Finnegan - 8/12/2017
Links to Train Sheet articles about WP 925:
Train Sheet #069, Page 9: The B Unit 925C
Other reference: WP_925C, Page 1: WP 925C Sign
