I can't believe I'm actually doing this, but gotta ask John Cater, Kevin Stevens et al the following: The FP-45 cowl units on ATSF, were they all six-axle units? Why were some painted red/silver vs. blue/yellow? Wasn't there another designation such as SDF-45 or similar? I know nothing about diesels except what I have learned on these boards. The two cowl units that ran with ATSF 3751 in 1991 were #95 and #97 IIRC. They were both red/silver and six-axle. I thought, for diesels, they were pretty good looking. Didn't smoke nearly enough like the old Alcos.
The Santa Fe ordered both F45's and FP45's (and yes, all were 6 axle locos). Only the FP45's were painted red and silver (twice: when they were delivered in 1967 and again in 1989). They were bought to haul the combined Super Chief/El Capitan. Some of the F45's had steam lines to be used with the FP45's, but were intended for freight service. When they were rebuilt, they were redesignated SDF45 and SDFP45. Dwight [ 11 July 2002, 03:28: Message edited by: Dwightman ]
Dwight, thank you man, those are all of the designations I have heard or read for those locomotives. How do you keep them straight? How can you tell an FP45 from an SDFP45 for instance? You said the designations changed when rebuilt. When were they rebuilt and why? Oh Lord forgive me for being interested in diesels!
Telling them all apart is not too bad, the SD prefix just lets the staff know easily that it's a 6 axle EMD, and as said already there is no real difference between an F45 and an SDF45, it's just the railroad's "code".... There is a visible difference between the (freight) F45 and (passenger) FP45 though, the FP45 was built a few feet longer to accomodate the steam generators, this shows up as a blank bit of bodywork behind the radiator section. And we haven't even mentioned yet the *other* EMD 6 axle cowl units on the roster! In the 80's they picked up a batch of 2nd hand Amtrak SDP40F's, they had to cut notches in the nose to apply front steps too them, which really didn't help the looks! I think the new class was SDFP40-2? (can anyone confirm that?)
I believe it is 3 feet. Well, he didn't ask about those. They became SDF40-2's. Strange that they dropped the P from these locos when they didn't drop it from the FP45's. (And don't forget about the U30CG's. ) Jim, the F45/FP45's were rebuilt in the early '80's as part of the Santa Fe's rebuild program. They weren't singled out because anything was wrong with them. It was just time for the F45/FP45/SD45's to be rebuilt (technically, they were upgraded). The external changes were minor. I think the main differences were the new number, an a/c unit on the cab roof, and a fresh coat of paint. Brent, where ya been hidin'? Dwight [ 11 July 2002, 12:51: Message edited by: Dwightman ]
I don't think BNSF has many of these on the Roster anymore and I'm not positive, but I think they no longer differentiate between SDF and SDFP.
Thanks for all the info, guys. As far as I'm concerned if it doesn't have a smokestack, steam dome and firebox, well, you know. Some of the diesels are growing on me, like these F45's, and Alco PA's and EMD E units. Most of all of them are gone like the steamers. The new ones all look alike to me.
Fitz, I too am a steam man, and let the diesel folks handle these things. There are several good websites out there regarding the motive power of the Santa Fe. What I did is went to my server and typed in Santa Fe Railroad and just followed the links. To me a "steam generator" is a boiler !! John
My eyes have been giving me some troble...but I get here when I can. Ol' RoyalBlue and I have a few CG's in N Scale that were doing. I'll post pictures when they'er done!
Here's a couple of pics appropriate to this topic! The first is an SDF45 dummy (ex powered "metal truck" Athearn) that runs with a Kato -9 in my fleet. I bought it secondhand ready detailed, I only added the flush glazing... This second pic is three loco's from my work bench, none of which are moving forward very quickly at the moment! The nearest will be a U28CG, it's had big holes chopped for the steam generator parts, but needs it's fuel tank extending, detailing and painting into red & silver warbonnet. The middle one will be a 1990's SDFP45, there's one I have my eye on that got a retro-fitted plow pilot & yellow air conditioner along with the Warbonnet paint. Still a long way to go with that one as well! The third one will be a 1970's F45, in the freight blue pinstripe scheme (I have some SD45's also on the workbench to go with it) Yep, this has a long way to go as well. This one has had the lead radiator fan replaced with an Atlas GP40 part as an experiment. Sorry for the pic quality, shooting black loco's isn't easy!
I know I tried this before and can't remember the results. Got these from Dwight. [ 18. July 2002, 00:12: Message edited by: fitz ]
Martyn, Greetings. Nice work on the SDF 45. What type of glazing did you use? I am updating a MILW FP45 and want to replace the "glass-block" plastic that Athearn provided. Guinness is Good for you, Mark
AMB lasercut ones, they are pretty good, almost a glue-free push fit, i'd reccomend weathering slightly *after* installing them as they are amazingly clear, I have a N&W SD40 on my workbench that I keep thinking I need to add glazing to, then I remember I already have.... The "under construction" photo has one with the windows installed but the masking not yet removed (the "white boarded up windows" effect), so you can install them, paint & varnish, then remove the masking tape...
