Developed and manufactured between 1985 and 1992 by General Motors’ Electro-Motive Division (EMD), the four axle GP60-series locomotives developed 3800 h.p. from a 16-cylinder, 710-series engine. Most were initially purchased for use on fast intermodal trains. Including the three demonstrators, EMD constructed a total of 294 GP60s for seven different U.S. customers.

At the request of Santa Fe, EMD also built 63 wide-nose GP60Ms featuring a “safety cab”. These units were delivered in Santa Fe’s famous aluminum & red “Warbonnet” paint scheme. EMD also built 23 cabless GP60B “booster” units for the railroad. Santa Fe initially assigned its GP60Ms in sets to their most time-sensitive intermodal trains.

To appeal to railroads requiring slightly less horsepower and wanting to conserve fuel, EMD also built three GP59 demonstrators. Featuring a 12-cylinder 710-series prime mover with 3000 h.p. peak output, they have a few minor spotting differences when compared to the similar looking GP60. EMD’s GP59 demonstrators were sold to Norfolk Southern, who also purchased an additional thirty three units. Interestingly, NS also purchased fifty regular nose GP60s from the builder.

The GP60, GP60M and GP60B were the last new four axle high horsepower freight locomotives built by EMD