McCloud River Railroad Company
McCloud Railway Company
Locomotive #1804

EMD GP-7u
Built- 8/1951
c/n- 15704
Horsepower- 1,500


The McCloud River Railroad purchased the #1804 and #1810 specifically to test the McCloud shop's ability to rebuild locomotives, which was becoming a big business in the late 1980s and could be a major source of revenue for the company. Both of the locomotives originally rode on AAR-type switching trucks, but those had been replaced by Alco road switcher trucks Alaska salvaged from some RS-1s they scrapped. McCloud actually got the #1804 running again and used it on a few trains, but they never could get it to stop spreading sparks all over the landscape, especially when in dynamic brake mode. McCloud Railway used the locomotive only once, during the winter of 1992/1993.

U.S. Army #1822, seen here in Willows, Florida, on 12 March 1994, depicts the as built configuration of both the McCloud #1804 and #1810, with the high hoods and AAR switcher trucks. Keith E. Ardinger photo.

Alaska Railroad #1804 in Anchorage, Alaska, on 6 August 1978, only a couple years after its remanufacture. Unknown photographer.

Alaska Railroad #1804 in Anchorage, Alaska, on 2 July 1979. Alaska would add dynamic brakes to the locomotive sometime after the date of this photo. Keith E. Ardinger photo.

The #1804 is seen here in the scrap yard at Klamath Falls, Oregon, on 1 April 1988, shortly before its sale to the McCloud River. Photo is by and courtesy of Jerry Lamper.

Another view of the #1804, as seen in June 1988 in the Klamath Falls yard over the top of a fence. Lee F. Hower photo.

The #1804 sitting behind the McCloud shop building in September 1991. Photo is by and courtesy of Jerry Lamper.

The #1804 and #39 cresting the top of Algoma Hill with an eastbound on one of the few trips the unit made over this railroad. Photo from the Travis Berryman collection.

The #1804 fired up and covered with snow during the winter of 1992/1993. Travis Berryman photo.

The #1804 in McCloud in a photo dated 7 March 1994. Keith E. Ardinger.

#1804 in Exeter, CA, in 1996. The unit wears the paint job applied for the Under Siege 2 movie and is lettered for Nevada Industrial Switch. Jeff Black photo, courtesy of John Barnhill.

#1804 is painted in Atlantic Coast Line colors and lettered for the Gold Coast Railroad Museum in this photo shot on 7 January 2008 by Micha Rieser. The locomotive has since been re-lettered for the Atlantic Coast Line.

Gold Coast Railroad Museum website has several contemporary photos of the #1804.