Prototype Monday 3
Ahhh… the EMD SW1500. It’s my favourite engine. There’s just something about it…
The EMD SW1500 was constructed directly after the SW1200 and was the builder’s second model to employ its upgraded model 645 prime mover. As with the SW1000 (which was the first to use the 645 engine), the SW1500 featured a bulkier carbody and was a bit heavier from earlier models although its intended use remained the same, working light branch lines or in industrial settings. With the horsepower rating, weight, and top speed the switcher was essentially a road switcher (it offered nearly the same ratings as the GP7 released a decade earlier). Once again railroads found the SW1500 to their liking and many Class Is purchased the model, very likely due to its extra horsepower allowing it to be used in numerous applications. Today, SW1500s remain quite common doing the tasks they were originally intended for on large and small railroads around the country. from: http://www.american-rails.com/emd-sw1500.html
According to rrpicturearchives.net the Quebec Gatineau Railway (QGRY) has or had seven SW1500s:
| Unit # | History | Model | Serial# | |
| QGRY 1500 | ex-PC 9534 | SW1500 | 7355-25 | |
| QGRY 1501 | Ex CR Exx PC 9508 SW 1500 | SW1500 | 37066 | |
| QGRY 1502 | Ex-PC 9580 | SW1500 | 73622-21 | |
| QGRY 1504 | ex-PC 9509 | SW1500 | 37067 | |
| QGRY 1505 | ex-PC 9538 | SW1500 | 7355-29 | |
| QGRY 1506 | ex-PC 9554 | SW1500 | 7355-45 | |
| QGRY 1507 | ex-PC 9519 | SW1500 | 7355-10 |
On my layout I have one custom painted QGRY SW1500 numbered 1504 (see pics above). For additional switching, I’ll also have some help from two Genesee & Wyoming Atlas HO Silver Series EMD MP15-DCs. The MP15DC replaced the SW1500 in EMD’s catalog, and is superficially very similar to the predecessor model, using the same engine (a V12 EMD 645-series powerplant) in a similar design of hood and bodywork. The primary difference is the MP15’s standard Blomberg B trucks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_MP15DC
All three units have Soundtraxx Tsunami DCC sound decoders installed.
Some of the QGRY marked power is assigned to other G&W roads in Ontario. I shot SW1500 QGRY 1501 on Huron Central in Sault Ste. Marie two years ago.
HCRY also had QGRY GP38s 2006 and 2008 and a couple of 2300 series GP39-3s are in southern Ontario on Goderich-Exeter and Southern Ontario Railways.