Great Northern Empire Builder F7 Manual

Train Simulator - EMD F7

© Copyright RailSimulator.com 2013, all rights reserved Release Version 1.0

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EMD F7 Empire Builder

1 BACKGROUND .........................................................................................2

1.1 EMD F7 ........................................................................................................................2

1.2 Great Northern Empire Builder .........................................................................................2

2 ROLLING STOCK ......................................................................................3

2.1 EMD F7 Locomotive ........................................................................................................3

2.2 EMD F7 B Unit ...............................................................................................................3

2.3 16 x 4 Sleeper ...............................................................................................................4

2.4 36 Seat Dining ..............................................................................................................4

2.5 48 Seat Day Nite ...........................................................................................................4

2.6 60 Seat Day Nite ...........................................................................................................5

2.7 8-4-4 Sleeping...............................................................................................................5

2.8 Coffee Dormitory ...........................................................................................................6

2.9 Dome Coach .................................................................................................................6

2.10 Great Dome Lounge......................................................................................................7

2.11 Mail Baggage...............................................................................................................7

2.12 Sleeper Observation .....................................................................................................8

2.13 GP9 ...........................................................................................................................8

2.14 Great Northern Box Car.................................................................................................9

2.15 Great Northern Caboose ................................................................................................9

2.16 Great Northern Reefer ................................................................................................ 10

3 CAB CONTROLS .....................................................................................11

3.1 Cab Controls ............................................................................................................... 11

4 SCENARIOS ...........................................................................................12

All of the Empire Builder scenarios take place on the Marias Pass route .................................... 12

4.1 Empire Builder Tutorial ................................................................................................. 12

4.2 Over the Divide ........................................................................................................... 12

4.3 Race for Shelby ........................................................................................................... 12

5 CREDITS ...............................................................................................12

Version 1.0



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1 Background

1.1 EMD F7

Produced between February 1949 and December 1953 by General Motors Electro Motive Division (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD), the EMD F7 was a Diesel-electric locomotive which operated in North America. Initially promoted as a freight hauling unit, the F7 was also used in passenger service. As a 1,500 horsepower (1,100 kW) locomotive, the F7's operational speed averaged 50 mph (80km/h), although the unit was capable of speeds of up to 70 mph (127 km/h). The fourth model in a successful line of F-Unit locomotives, the F7 is by far the highest selling cab unit of all time. It's predecessor was the F3 and it was succeeded by the F9. The F7 came in two variants, cab equipped lead A-units of which 2,366 were built and cabless booster B-Units of which 1,483 units were built. It is very difficult to distinguish late produced F3 units form the early F7s, as the major differences were electrical system changes. However, later F7 units featured variations of the grill design. The F7 is considered to be the apex of cab unit diesel freight locomotive design, evidenced by it's popularity on North American and Canadian Railroads (the latter of which utilized it up until the 1970s). It has powered some of the most famous trains in North America, such as the Santa Fe's Super Chief, El Capitan, and Great Northern's Empire Builder. However, the locomotive was unpopular with yard crews due to it's relative difficulty to alight from, or to see hand signals from ground crew.

1.2 Great Northern Empire Builder

The Empire Builder is a famous passenger train route running between Chicago, Illinois in America's Midwest, and Seattle, Washington or Portland, Oregon in the North West. The route was operated by the Great Northern Railway, between 1929 and 1970, then Burlington Northern between 1970 and 1971, and Amtrak from 1971 to present. Hauled by F7s the train was named after James J. Hill, a railroad tycoon who was known as the Empire Builder after forging a route connecting Eastern and Western America, so that he could send his goods to America's west coast to more easily trade with China, without shipping goods around south America. More and more cities sprang up along the route after it's development, which became more populous and literally helped to develop the West Coast of America, hence the name "Empire Builder". The route's early development was fraught with serious incidents, as it ran through some pretty treacherous and unsafe mountain terrain, until a much safer, flatter route was found. This route became known as Marias Pass.



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2 Rolling Stock The following rolling stock is provided in the EMD F7 Pack:

2.1 EMD F7 Locomotive

Appearing as “F7 A Unit Great Northern” in the browser list.

2.2 EMD F7 B Unit

Appearing as “F7 B Unit Great Northern” in the browser list.



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2.3 16 x 4 Sleeper

Appearing as “EB 16-4 Sleeping” in the browser list.

2.4 36 Seat Dining

Appearing as “EB 36 Seat Dining” in the browser list.

2.5 48 Seat Day Nite

Appearing as “EB 48 Seat Day Nite” in the browser list.



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2.6 60 Seat Day Nite

Appearing as “EB 60 Seat Day Nite” in the browser list.

2.7 8-4-4 Sleeping

Appearing as “EB 8-4-4 Sleeping” in the browser list.



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2.8 Coffee Dormitory

Appearing as “EB Coffee Dormitory” in the browser list.

2.9 Dome Coach

Appearing as “EB Dome Coach” in the browser list.



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2.10 Great Dome Lounge

Appearing as “EB Great Dome Lounge” in the browser list.

2.11 Mail Baggage

Appearing as “EB Mail Baggage” in the browser list.



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2.12 Sleeper Observation

Appearing as “EB Sleeper Observation” in the browser list.

2.13 GP9

Appearing as “GN EMD GP9” in the browser list.



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2.14 Great Northern Box Car

Appearing as “GN Boxcar 40ft SP1” in the browser list.

2.15 Great Northern Caboose

Appearing as “GN Caboose C-40-3” in the browser list.



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2.16 Great Northern Reefer

Appearing as “GN Reefer R-40-10” in the browser list.



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3 Cab Controls

3.1 Cab Controls

1. Throttle 2. Reverser

3. Train Brake 4. Bell 5. Loco Brake 6. Windscreen Wipers

7. Sander Control 8. Headlight Switch 9. Cab light 10. Horn



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4 Scenarios

All of the Empire Builder scenarios take place on the Marias Pass route

4.1 Empire Builder Tutorial

• Rating Easy • Duration 20 mins • Type Standard

An introduction to operating Great Northern's majestic flagship passenger train.

4.2 Over the Divide

• Rating Medium • Duration 55 mins • Type Standard

You are the engineer of Great Northern's magnificent flagship passenger train, the Empire Builder. You are momentarily stopped on the passing track at Glacier Park to meet another GN priority train, a Western Fruit Express consist hurrying perishables east. As soon as the eastbound WFE train clears single-track, you'll be ready to climb up and over the Marias Pass summit, providing your passengers a memorable journey through the Montana Rockies.

4.3 Race for Shelby

• Rating Hard • Duration 70 mins • Type Standard and Career

It is January 1957 and you are the engineer of Great Northern Train 32 - the eastbound Empire Builder. The weather and visibility are miserable and near Blackfoot you have just come upon a red signal from a freight train ahead. You'll be following this freight to Cut Bank and will need to make the best time you can while being attentive to further signal restrictions. After your station stop at Cut Bank, you will have a clear, fast route on to Shelby. This scenario is based upon the actual winter 1957 timetable of the Empire Builder.

5 Credits

The team at Railsimulator.com would like to thank the following: Gary Dolzall All our dedicated Beta Testers

Documents

Great Northern Empire Builder F7 Manual