EMD General Purpose

In 1974 the new Columbus & Greenville Railway emerged from Illinois Central Gulf control beleaguered but determined to survive, once again through the efforts of local shippers making local decisions. The venerated Baldwins survived the two years of ICG control, but by the late 1970s were well past their ability to cover regular daily freight service from the Hills to the Delta. As such, in 1978 the C&G purchased through a locomotive dealer six second-hand Electro-Motiver GP7 road switchers, in two batches, all former Florida East Coast locomotives built in the fall of 1952. Several in the group also saw ownership by the Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad before arriving in Columbus. Retaining their original Florida East Coast numbers, the 'new' Geeps were quickly put to work on the Delta Route handling the mainline pulls across the state. The arrival of these handsome blue and white Geeps spelled the end for most of the remaining Baldwins—although Nos. 601 and 606 could be found in switching service as late as 1983.

The 1980s also brought two more batches of EMD 4-axle road switchers to Columbus. The first came in the form of several ex Southern Railway GP9s, interesting units in that they retained their high hoods and each had dynamic brakes added by Southern shops long after their construction. The black Southern Geeps were mostly used as local switchers out on the line, especially in Greenwood and Greenville. Together the represent some of the last first-generation Southern Railway power in revenue service. A second large batch of new B-B power turned out to be ten CF7s, all rebuilt from "covered wagons" in the mid 1970s by the Sante Fe's Cleburne (Texas) shops. In the years just before the Gennesse & Wyoming purchase, Columbus acquired various smaller batches of B-B power: ex Chicago & North Western GP7u rebuilds, ex Illinois Central Gulf GP11 Paducah rebuilds, and two high-nose GP38s from the original Norfolk Southern.