1809

Did you know the Alaska Railroad had two different 1809s?  Most of us are familiar with GP7u number 1809:2, but not the other variant.  Number 1809:1 was an EMD MRS1 (B/N 15874) built for the US Army in 1952.  The Army sent it to Alaska as an experimental engine in which the driver could be widened out to fit Russian gauge track.  The Alaska Railroad returned it to the US Army in 1955. In this photograph, number 1809 is in front of the Anchorage Depot.
Photograph courtesy of Albert W. Bailey