Oregon Pacific Railroad 1810
Last Update:  April 11, 2015
Oregon Pacific Railroad No. 1810
The 1810 is a GP7u that made 1500 h.p. and was built in August, 1951 for the U.S. Army as their 1821.  Serial No. 15691,
frame No. 7012-1.  It later went to the Alaska Railroad who converted it to a low hood model.  It also served a few years on
the McCloud River RR.   In 1993 it was used for the filming of "Under Siege 2 - Dark Territory".   In 1999, Mr.  Samuels
purchased it for use on the Molalla (now Liberal) Division.  However, it was never used there as the crew preferred the
switcher engines as they were easier to see out of with their shorter hoods.

Mr. Samuels said that when they got the locomotive, the fake brains from the movie were still inside the cab and had to be
cleaned out.  The 1810 made its last major run on the East Portland Branch during the June 2007, Summer event with the
SP&S 700.   It was later sold and no longer serves on the OPR.

 Jeff Moore has some older photos of this loco on his McCloud Rails website.   Jeff also noted that it was one of several GP-7s
built with EMD switcher trucks (like the ones under the various Oregon Pacific EMD switchers) instead of the standard EMD
"flexcoil" road truck found under almost every other four axle road switcher built by EMD.  At some point Alaska replaced the
EMD switcher trucks with Alco road switcher trucks, possibly off of Alco RS-1s they were scrapping.  By 1988 the #1810
 (along with fellow Alaska #1804) were in a scrap yard in Klamath Falls, OR, where the McCloud River picked the pair up.   
Both of these units were off of the McCloud by late 1993.  Both passed through the hands of Nevada Industrial Switch...NIS
sold the #1810 to Mr. Samuels while the #1804 went to Pacific Harbor Lines in Los Angeles.  

The 1810 was named for Mr. Samuels mother, Eileen Samuels.

In November 2007, Mr. Samuels finalized the sale of the 1810 along with the SP Slug 1010 to a private grain railroad in
southwest Kansas using reporting marks SFGX.   The paint scheme is the same as Archer Daniels Midland locomotives.

Per Mr. Samuels, "The slug will be mated to the 1810 and is being equipped with the ZTR "BOA" = (Bolt On
Adhesion)computerized excitation/traction control system at the OPR shop in Milwaukie prior to shipment to Kansas in early
January 2008.  Both units will be painted into ADM's gray/black/blue color scheme and retain their original numbers as SFGX
1810 and SFGX 1010."

The sale of the 1810 and the 1010 supported the purchase of the new OPR 901 which is now regularly used on the
OPR Molalla Branch as the American Steel Switcher.

In early March, 2008, the 1810 and 1010 were shipped from the OPR to the new owners in Kansas.

 Additional photos from the early days on the OPR in about 2000.

 Very old photo of this locomotive from 1971  and  1984
These photos were taken of the 1810 when it was used to haul passengers for a day in June 2007.
The cab of the 1810.
These photos were taken of the 1810 in storage in early 2007.
My first photos of the 1810 at Milwualkie in 2005.
The 1810 at the OPR/SPS700 summer event 2007, photo courtesy of my uncle, Geron Marcom.
Copyright © 2004-2015 All Rights Reserved
"The Eileen Samuels"
The 1810 at the OPR shops in December 2007, just prior to the repaint into the new owner's colors.
Other views of the 1810.
In late 2007, the 1810 and slug 1010 were sold to a new owner.   The crew of the OPR painted the 1810 and the slug in the
new owner's brand new colors.   The following are photos of the 1810 as it was being painted and prepped before being
shipped to serve with its new owner.   Thanks to Kelly Anable and the OPR for the following photos.  Note the incredible
attention to detail in the paint job.   The OPR crew did a great job!
Views of the 1810 in the early morning winter hours on December, 2007 as it was being placed on the Brooklyn Yard turn table in preparation for
its return trip to the OPR.    A week earlier the 1810 was brought to Brooklyn in a consist lead by the SP 4449.   On this day, it was returned to the
OPR in a consist of both the SP 4449 and SP&S 700
These four pictures courtesy of John Williams, Troutdale Historical Society
These final pictures of the 1810 on the OPR and also at the Portland Brooklyn Yard were taken by Mr. Samuels at it was transported off OPR property by the UP to its
new owners.
Some additional words from Mr. Samuels as he posted on Trainorders.com about the 1810 sale:

 Oregon Pacific has sold its GP7u 1810 and slug 1010 to a grain elevator located on the Cimarron Valley shortline at Hugoton, Kansas.

The SFGX 1810 is former Alaska RR 1810 and was used in the movie “Under Siege II; Dark Territory” starring Steven Segal. It was previously
painted in the OPR red/white colors and carried the name “Eileen Samuels” named after OPR owner Dick Samuels 88-year old mother.

The SFGX 1010 is the former SP 1010 yard slug; the only known survivor of the set of four built by GE in 1980 from a retired L&N SW-7.

Both units were painted by the OPR crew and equipped with slug controls and the ZTR “BOA” adhesion control system.

Both units are currently en-route on the BNSF via Lincoln, Nebraska scheduled to interchange to the CVR at Dodge City around March 28th; from
there they will go to the CVR shops at Satanta, KS to have the alignment control couplers removed and the standard ones reinstalled. Once in
service the set will handle unit grain trains at the facility which is a subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland Grain.

-------------------------

I tried to talk ADM into a more "lively" paint scheme; they gave us a little leeway as long as it was gray, blue and black with yellow handrails....
corporate colors....the blue "swoop" down to line up with the slug was about as "lively" as we could get.
These photos are courtesy of Mr. Samuels and show the 1810 working the silos with its new owners and attached to slug 1010.
SEE BOTTOM OF PAGE FOR A 2015 UPDATE ON THE STATUS OF THIS LOCOMOTIVE
UPDATE 2-13-15 from Jason Edwards, Manager United Prairie Ag, LLC:

 I have been aware of your website detailing the history of the SGFX 1810 & slug and wanted to give you an update.  I am the
manager of the grain terminal in Hugoton, Ks where this locomotive has been located for the past 7 years.  We recently
upgraded to an EMD SD40-2 and the SGFX 1810 is now being transferred to a wholly owned Archer Daniels Midland facility
in Dodge City, Ks where they will use it to unload and load railcars.  It’s amazing how many people over the years have
stopped at our facility and asked to take pictures of this locomotive.  For this reason I felt the need to update you on its
whereabouts.
UPDATE 3-29-15 from Derek

 Saw this today  (3/29/15) at Dodge City KS and it is parked alongside E Trail St next to the ADM silos, it no longer has slug
1010 mated to it.