Scans of TEM7A Russians from Port of Houston 2000 Photo Gallery by LynnH at pbase.com

Scans of TEM7A Russians from Port of Houston 2000

This handful of Russian-built TEM7A locomotives arrived in the United States in March of 1993, and were stored at Greens
Port Industrial Park in the Port of Houston. Trains Magazine ran photos of them in its July 1993 issue and also in the June 1997 issue.

The locomotives were originally received as trade compensation for grain delivered to Russia by American Grain, Inc.,
but were seized by U.S. Customs during an investigation into trade irregularities. Later, the U.S. government released the
locomotives, and they were for sale. I'm not sure if someone bought them or not.

In November 2000, my father and I went searching for these unusual TEM7A engines in the port area of Houston.
We found them but only had minutes to snap pics before the security guards chased us off. Not a good opportunity
for good composition or even a steady hand. (You rail-fans out there will understand what I mean!)

FYI - These locomotives are eight-axle switchers. They have 2000 hp, 180-ton diesel-electric units powered by V-12 engines.
They ride on two four-axle trucks, with a total of EIGHT traction motors.

TEM7A 1006	Russians on the Side	TEM7A 1002 and Friends	The Little Russians.
Russian TEM7A 1009	Red Russian	Red	Russian TEM7A 1004
Russian Engines	B&W TEM7A 1004	B&W Russians

Guest		02-Jan-2010 05:04
were these scrapped? does anyone know what happened to them?

E Clark		29-Jun-2008 01:38
Nice shots! Just a guess, but I'm betting the reason no one wants them is the fact that they'd be a maintenance nightmare. We had a Caterpillar re-powered unit at one place I worked and it was a HUGE head ache when it started to fail. Can't imagine finding parts for a 15 year old Russian unit!

click on thumbnails for full image