The Missouri Pacific Railroad was without question a driving force in the growth and development of the American West, and it maintained that position for more than a 100 years. The 9,000-mile railroad fell victim to the merger mania of 1980s/90s and was acquired by Union Pacific.

109- A GP9M; originally delivered to the Muskogee Roads as Midland Valley GP7 153 in 1953, it was involved in a fatal head-on collision with sister 152 at Bokoshe, Oklahoma on 1 February 1958 with both being rebuilt by EMD to 1500HP GP9Ms. This one became MV and then TP 109 and later MP 1696. It's shown here at the former MV yard in Tulsa on 18 August, 1974.

279: A 1954 EMD graduate and a rare "Phase IV" GP7 which shared the characteristics of early GP9s. It would become MP 1734 and retired by 1981. It was idling at Jefferson City, Missouri when photographed on 27 October 1974. MOPAC bought 210 GP7s itself and acquired more through mergers with T&P, C&EI and the Muskogee Lines.

397: GP9 357 wears T&P sublettering as it basks at El Paso on 24 March 1973. It also carries dynamic brakes, which TP frequently ordered while MP chose not to. 357 was retired as MP 562 in 1981.

418: MP owned more EMD GP18s than any other railroad, 146 plus five on the T&P. 100 of them (400 to 499) were built with "AAR Type B" trucks from Alco trade-ins. 418 was delivered in February 1962 and retired in 1984. It was photographed at Jefferson City, Missouri on 24 August 1974.

1076: In the mid-60s Missouri Pacific re-engined 34 Alco RS3s with 12-cylinder EMD 567 engines, producing a 1200 HP unit that they called a "GP12"", which served for years as switchers and local power throughout the system. 1076 is shown at Jefferson City, MO on 27 October 1974. It was retired the following April.

1100: MoPac bought 139 EMD SW1200s from 1963 to 1966 with 1100 being the lead unit. It's shown at St Louis on 11 January 1975 while showing the roads characteristic corner signal markers and spark arrestors. She would be retired in January 1985 and sold to Florida Portland Cement.

1565: EMD GP15-1s arrived from 1976, the road buying 160 of the units (over half of total production) to replace their large GP7 fleet in local and switching service. 1576 was delivered in December 1976 and would move on to the UP upon merger. It was photographed at Jeff City on 19 March 1978.

2124: While MP sampled only six of the original GP38 model it loved the GP38-2, buying 274 of them from 1972, giving it the largest fleet of the type in the world while providing an excellent 4-axle counterpart to the road's swarm of SD40-2s. Almost all went to UP with many since flooding the rental locomotive market nationwide. 2124, shown here, was delivered in 1975 and became UP 2124. It's shown here in the Santa Fe's Clovis, New Mexico yard after bringing a pool train in from Fort Worth. ATSF 2624 sitting next to it is one that road's 'SD26' rebuilds of EMD SD24s.

2255: While MP bought a large number of GP38-2s they ordered only 39 of GE's competitive U23B. They all carried the road's large "Screaming Eagle" hood markings as well, which were normally placed on turbocharged locomotives. 2255, delivered in 1973, is seen at Jefferson City on 22 September 1974. It's from the road's first order of the type, whose seven units rode on "AAR-Type B" trucks while the other 32 used FB-2 trucks. 2255 was later renumbered 4505 and retired in December 1988.

2296:After buying a relatively small number of U23Bs MP ordered 85 B23-7s between 1978 and 1981. One of them would receive an angular, EMD-like cab; 2296 is shown bringing a train into Corpus Christi on 15 September 1979 had the cab applied after suffering damage at Gorham, Illinois in May 1978. It would go on to become UP 107.

3148: If any one locomotive personified the 1970s MP to me it was the EMD SD40-2, of which the road had 306. Most were built without dynamic brakes with only 54 having D/B for pool coal train service. Their simple blue paint with the "Screaming Eagle" image was arguably one of the more attractive single-color locomotive paint schemes ever used. 3148 was photographed sitting at St Louis on 11 January 1975 with SD40 3029.

3327: MP's preference for EMD products was shown by buying only 35 GE U30Cs compared to the tidal wave of SD40-family counterparts. Three of them (3327,3311, 3310) are shown here during a crew change at Jefferson City, Missouri on 22 August 1974. Some of the units would receive up to four numbers during their careers; 3327 was delivered as 987 in 1973 and subsequently numbered 28, 3327 and then 2992. They were all typically retired from 1985 to 1989.