The GE B23-7 is a diesel locomotive model that was first offered by GE in late 1977. Featuring a smaller

12 cylinder 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

version of the FDL engine, it is the successor to GE's U23B produced from early 1968 to mid 1977, but at long is exactly . longer. It competed with the very successful

EMD GP38-2 The EMD GP38-2 is an American four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors, Electro-Motive Division. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the GP38-2 was an upgraded version of the earlier GP38. Power is provided by an EMD 645E 16-cyl ...

. General Electric also produced a variant, the BQ23-7, No. 5130-5139, for the

Seaboard Coast Line The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

. A total of 537 B23-7's were built for 9 U.S. customers and 2 Mexican customers. A B23-7A is a 12-cylinder B23-7 with horsepower boosted to 250 per cylinder or 3,000 horsepower. In 1980 the Missouri Pacific ordered three B23-7A's (#'s 4667-4669, later UP #'s 257-259) and tested them system-wide. The result was the GE model B30-7A, B30-7 with a 12-cylinder FDL prime mover. They were not renumbered into the B30-7A series on the MP because they lacked Sentry Wheel Slip and had different engine governors. 13 B23-7's were built by GE of Brazil in Dec.1979 for United South Eastern Railways(FUS) no.522-524 and National Railways of Mexico(NdeM) no.9130-9139. 17 B23-7s were built from GE kits in Mexico as

Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México (better known as N de M and especially in its final years as FNM) was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 (dating from the regime of Porfirio Díaz), a major railroad con ...

no.10047-10052 and no.12001-12011. Southern Railway's 54 units had Southern's "standard" high-short-hoods.

Original owners

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ge B23-7 B23-7 B-B locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1977 Freight locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Standard gauge locomotives of Mexico 5 ft 3 in gauge locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of Mexico