| Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad GP7 1504 at Michigan City, Indiana on an unknown day in October 1978, photo by Chuck Zeiler. Number 1504 was built in November 1951 as C&O GP7 5764 (c/n 15270) on EMD Order 5085. In late 1966 the Interstate Commerce Commission granted approval for the Chesapeake & Ohio to purchase the South Shore. This transaction was completed in 1967, and several GP7's were transferred to that property. Bethlehem Steel would not allow electric locomotives into their facility so diesels were required. Several more Geeps came from C&O to replace aging electric locomotives. These Geeps wore the solid blue with yellow trim of C&O and were numbered 1501 to 1508, a reflection of their horsepower rating. They carried the South Shore logo on their car bodies, no reference to parent C&O other than the colors. Number 5764 became 1504 on the South Shore, returning to the C&O in 1977 and renumbered back to 5764, sold for scrap in 1986. In 1984 the Venango River Corporation purchased the South Shore from Chessie System. |