No. 2500 pulled “The Laker” passenger train for the Soo Line (now CP Rail) from Duluth to southern Wisconsin and Chicago. It was donated to the LSRM in 1986 by Soo Line Railway. The exterior was restored and repainted, and mechanical restoration was completed in the spring of 1995.
SOO Line No. 2500
EMD FP7A
The FP7A is basically an EMD F7A extended by four feet to give greater water capacity for the steam generator used for heating passenger trains. EMD built F-units from 1939 until 1957. No. 2500 was built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in November, 1949, as a demonstrator unit. Soo Line was so impressed that it purchased the demonstrator unit.