Illinois Central Gulf (ICG) GP8 7738 started life as Reading GP7 610 in 1953. It was purchased by the ICG and briefly operated as the ICG #84 (an interim number used before rebuilding since ICG already had a #610 - one of their ex GM&O GP35s). Paducah Shops rebuilt the Reading unit in August 1975 - when it was released in the ICG orange/white paint. After several more years of service on the ICG, 7738 was retired from mainline service. She was passed around by several shortline companies over several years. These included the Mississippi Delta Railroad, which blacked out the original ICG logo and replaced it with there own. After the Missippi Delta 7738 was sold to the Gulf & Ohio Railroad Company. There she operated on the G&O operated Lexington & Ohio Railroad pulling freight between Lexington and Versailles, Kentucky. The L&O was purchased by R.J. Corman in 2002 and left 7738 without a home as Corman did not want her. Thus with the cooperation of the museum she was donated to the BGRM to pull excursion trains. The museum hopes to restore 7738 to Illinois Central Gulf colors and scheme as this is the original paint scheme for her in the current GP-8 configuration.

(Thanks to Chad Cowan for providing the corrected history of this locomotive to update this page.)