Is this a tunnel motor?
naw. i think that’s the radiator. it’s lowered for the GP15-1s.
why is there a dash one in te GP15’s name? isnt that kinda pointless to say? or am i missing something?
That was to distinguish it from the Dash-2s being built at the same time. No GP15-2 were ever built. The GP15-1 was a less expense locomotive built by EMD to counter the large amounts of GP7s and GP9s being rebuilt at the time. Sales were down and EMD wanted to see if they could get a piece of the business that was going to the rebuilders. Most of the parts were new, but the locomotive lacked an alternator, using a DC generator instead, using a V12-645E engine(more fuel efficient than rebuilds V16-567 engine) etc. EMD had some success
but only with a few railroads. The MP and Conrail bought good sized fleets, but C&NW, SLSF, and C&O bought one batch each. The last batch built for the MP had an alternator instead of the DC generator. While the 25 built for C&O had a turbocharged V8-645, an alternator, and dynamic brakes. The last three built, for Appalachicola Northern were like those for C&O.
The radiator layout on the various GP15 models and the tunnel motors is based on the standard layout on EMD’s export designs, where clearances are tighter.