Southland movie star Missouri Pacific EMD GP38-2 No. 2377 rests at Yard Center locomotive facility at Dolton, Illinois, on August 10, 1986, after starring in a movie disguised as Southland No. 2377. It was featured in “End of the line” starring Kevin Bacon, Wilford Brimley, and of course, Southland No. 2377. I have never seen the 1987 movie, but gist of it involves the closing down of Southland Railway to be replaced by air freight, with railway workers in the shop town of Clifford, Arkansas, deciding to fight the shutting, with Bacon and Brimley’s characters leading the way. They decide to head to the railroad’s headquarters in Chicago to change the the mind of the Chairman of the Board about closing down the railway, and what better way to get there than GP38-2 No. 2377! The locomotive obviously got into a gun battle at some point, with No. 2377 still riddled with bullet holes and missing some window glass in this view.
The history of No. 2377 is pretty interesting too. This locomotive was built as MP No. 900 in 1972, later renumbered to No. 2051. After the merger with Union Pacific in 1982, the locomotive was renumbered to No. 2377 in 1986, when the then-stored locomotive was chosen to star in “End of the Line” with the Jenks blue paint washed and a Southland logo covering up the old MoPac insignia. After movie work, the locomotive was stored again and retired from the UP roster in 1987, soon thereafter going into the Helm Leasing locomotive fleet as HLCX No. 2377. After working for various other railroads as part of the lease fleet, the engine went back to the UP in 1996! No. 2377 became UP No. 1819, again renumbered No. 319, minus the bullet holes, of course.
