The GE BQ23-7 was a model of diesel locomotive manufactured by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

, a variant of the B23-7 built between 1978 and 1979 (the 'Q' stood for "crew Quarters"). Mechanically identical to a regular B23-7, but equipped with an enlarged operating cab for accommodating the train crew, thus making a case for eliminating the

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in railway switch, switching and Shunting (rail), shunting, keeping a l ...

from the rear of freight trains. SCL no.5130-5139 were the only ones built. Following a practice dating back to ACL and SAL U30Bs of 1967, SCL's 10 BQ23-7s and 30 standard B23-7s were delivered riding on reconditioned Blomberg trucks from EMD trade-ins. Only ten were built, all 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 ...

railroad, (originally no.5130–5139).

CSX CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...

later inherited these locomotives, operating them into the late 1990s. These came to be nicknamed "Busses" by the operating crews and " Aegis Cruisers" by some

railfans A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter (Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rail ...

, due to the boxy shape of the locomotive resembling the superstructure of the guided missile cruiser. None of these locomotives survive today. All were scrapped in 2001.

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B-B locomotives BQ23-7 Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Freight locomotives Scrapped locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1978 {{diesel-loco-stub