Pere Marquette Diesel Roster (All-Time)

Published: October 28, 2026

The Pere Marquette dieselized in a short list. One SW1 arrived in 1939. After the war the NW2s took the yards, the E7s took the new streamliners, and the Berkshires were gone by late 1951. The all-time list counts 33 locomotives, each frame once. That total is everything the railroad owned or ordered through the merger, including six BL2s that were delivered afterward lettered Chesapeake & Ohio.

Illustration of Pere Marquette E7A 101 in the original yellow and blue livery at Grand Rapids, circa 1950s

E7A 101 in the original yellow and blue livery, at Grand Rapids, circa 1950s. Author’s collection.

On this page: At a glance · Switchers · E7s and the streamliners · The BL2s · Roster

At a glance

Item	Detail
Railroad	Pere Marquette. Company history
This table	Diesels owned or ordered by the Pere Marquette. Each frame once
Electro-Motive	30. Two SW1s, 14 NW2s, eight E7As, and six BL2s
General Electric	3. Seventy-tonners 20–22, class DES-4, 1947
Quantity column	33
First diesel	SW1 No. 10, Electro-Motive Corporation, 1939
Preserved	SW1 No. 11, at the B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore

Switchers

No. 10 was the experiment, an SW1 from Electro-Motive Corporation in 1939, class DE-1. The second SW1, No. 11, class DE-1a, came from Electro-Motive in April 1942 and is the one preserved at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. The yard fleet that mattered was the NW2. Four Phase I engines, 51–54, class DE-2, were built from October 1942 through March 1943. Ten Phase II engines, 55–64, followed from November 1945 through May 1946. Fourteen NW2s replaced the 0-8-0s. The railroad bought no Alco switcher, no Baldwin, and no Lima diesel.

Three General Electric 70-tonners, 20–22, class DES-4, joined the roster in 1947. They are the early carbodies, without the front radiator grille. Electro-Motive had no 70-ton switcher, and these three were the light power for branches that did not need an NW2.

E7s and the streamliners

The passenger diesels were eight E7As, and they arrived in three orders. Nos. 101 and 102, class DEP-1, were built in June 1946 with the small number boards of Phase I. They drew the Pere Marquettes from the August 10, 1946, inaugural, Detroit to Grand Rapids. Nos. 103–106, class DEP-2, were built in April 1947, still before the June 6 merger, with the angled number boards of Phase II. Nos. 107 and 108, the same class, were built in August 1947, after the merger, and they were delivered in the Pere Marquette number series. Eight cabs, and no boosters. The illustration above is 101 in the yellow and blue the railroad applied to that first pair.

The BL2s

The last order the Pere Marquette placed was six BL2s, 80–85, class D-15. They were delivered in June and July 1948, a year after the merger, lettered Chesapeake & Ohio on a paint scheme taken from the Pere Marquette. They never carried Pere Marquette lettering in service. They are on this list because the Pere Marquette ordered them. Locomotives the Chesapeake & Ohio bought later for the Michigan lines are not.

Roster

Model	Class	Road numbers	Qty	Builder	Serial	Order	Built	Notes
SW1	DE-1	10	1	EMC	—	—	1939	Phase I
SW1	DE-1a	11	1	EMD	1714	E478	April 1942	Phase II. Preserved at the B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore
70-ton	DES-4	20–22	3	General Electric	—	—	1947	Early carbody, without the front radiator grille
NW2	DE-2	51–54	4	EMD	1715–1718	E479	October 1942–March 1943	Phase I
NW2	DE-2	55–64	10	EMD	3463–3472	E685	November 1945–May 1946	Phase II
BL2	D-15	80–85	6	EMD	4724–4729	E822	June–July 1948	Ordered by the Pere Marquette. Delivered lettered Chesapeake & Ohio. They did not carry Pere Marquette lettering in service
E7A	DEP-1	101–102	2	EMD	2911–2912	E643A	June 1946	Phase I. Small number boards
E7A	DEP-2	103–106	4	EMD	4252–4255	E776A	April 1947	Phase II. Angled number boards. Delivered before the June 6, 1947, merger
E7A	DEP-2	107–108	2	EMD	4722–4723	E821A	August 1947	Delivered after the merger, in the Pere Marquette number series

Sources

Arthur B. Million and Thomas W. Dixon, Jr., Pere Marquette Power (Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society, 1984). The classes, and the scope of the list: locomotives the Pere Marquette owned or ordered, including the BL2s delivered after the merger.
Andre Kristopans, Electro-Motive order list, TrainWeb. Serials and order numbers for the SW1 of 1942, the NW2s, the E7As, and the BL2s. The 1939 SW1 and the General Electric 70-tonners are not on that list.

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