In 1951 the United States Army purchased twenty GP-7s new from EMD for use in their far flung railroad operations. The locomotives as built rode on AAR switching trucks and lacked dynamic brakes. In 1960 the Army deemed a dozen of the locomotives surplus and conveyed them to the Alaska Railroad, then owned and managed by the Federal government. Alaska made several changes to the GP7s, including replacing the original switcher trucks with AAR Type B road switcher trucks salvaged from some Alco RS-1 locomotives they scrapped, then in 1965 the railroad's shops in Fairbanks chopped the noses on the locomotives to improve visibility.

The GP-7s became a mainstay of Alaska's local trains, but by the middle 1970s had started showing their age. Alaska decided to rebuild and modernize the locomotives, which the company figured would add another twelve years to their service lives. In 1975 Alaska sent GP-7 #1821 to Morrison-Knudsen in Boise, Idaho, for a rebuild that included an overhauled prime mover, a new AAR-style control stand, new modular electrical systems, and increasing the horsepower rating from 1,500 to 1,600. The #1821 performed well upon its arrival back in Alaska, but the railroad shortly developed an additional list of desired modernizations, including warmer cabs and 26L brake systems. The Illinois Central Gulf's shops in Paducah, Kentucky, underbid Morrison-Knudsen for the work, and between 1976 and 1977 they rebuilt the remaining nine GP-7s, giving them new road numbers in the process. The cabs, while very similar to EMD's standard road switcher cabs, were custom designed by the ICG shops to fit on the GP-7 frames. Alaska in the early 1980s decided to add dynamic brakes to the GP-7s but only got them installed on the #1804 and #1803 before the company changed its mind, and according to at least one source they were never connected.

Alaska retired the GP-7s in the middle 1980s, and by 1988 the #1804 and #1810 were sitting partially disassembled in a scrap yard in Klamath Falls, Oregon. The McCloud River Railroad purchased the pair specifically to test the McCloud shop's ability to rebuild locomotives, which was still a big business in the late 1980s and could be a major source of revenue for the company. The McCloud shops got the #1804 running again, including connecting the dynamic brakes, but they never could get the locomotive to stop spreading sparks all over the landscape especially when in dynamic brake mode which limited the locomotive to only a few trips over the road. The McCloud Railway used the locomotive only once, during the winter of 1992/1993. Both of the Alaska units left the property in late spring or early summer of 1994.

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 #1834 in Anchorage, Alaska, on 18 March 1973. Unknown photographer.

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

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. Paul Wester photo.

Another shot of the #1804 in Exeter, CA, in 1996. 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.

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