GN F-unit question

Gary Helriegel Jan 11, 2020

  1. Gary Helriegel

    Gary Helriegel TrainBoard Member

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    Not 100% sure where this would best be put. I'm modeling GN in the early to mid-60s, and while there were a number of F7s and the like on their roster through to the BN merger, these were the years just before they started selling/trading some locomotives. Given the existence of more modern and heavier power, what role would an F-unit typically have in, say, 1964? Not looking for GN-specific info (unless you have that, in which case let me buy you a coffee or a beer!), but just more of a general idea of how they'd be used. I've seen some photos from the 60s with GN F-units in front of both passenger and freight consists, so I'm not worried about finding a use for these Kato F7s I have, but would these be more likely to be second-line or local service?
     
  2. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    This would be best discussed and placed int he Fallen Flags forum. I'll move it there for you!
     
  3. HemiAdda2d

    HemiAdda2d Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    And here we are!
    OK, so I have but one book regarding this era. "Lines West" by Charles Wood. It covers the GN from its earliest days up to 1967.
    The last chapter is dedicated to diesels, and while F units made a presence there in the era you wish to model, solid lashups of GP30/35s, U25Bs, and SD45s have made the point of many freights. That aside, some freights, even high priority ones with piggybacks, drew F-unit lashups. Some of these were in Washington state, but there's no reason to not extend that practice into your modeled area. Grain trains drew sets of Fs,, some lashups on other trains with solid one-model power had a covered wagon B-unit as well.

    In another book, "Northwest Passage" by Rob Leachman, a 1970 photo (I know a bit out of scope) had a brace of Fs used in midtrain helper service on Stevens Pass. The book doesn't cover east of the the "Funnel" in Idaho, so I looked only at transcon trains. This means at the tail of your era, should a heavy train need helpers on the grade west out of Minot, F's might have been pressed into this service.

    You may have these books, GN Photo Archive, vol 1 and 2. http://www.heimburgerhouse.com/railfan_books A-H/gn_photo_archive.php I had both, but while downsizing stuff I didn't need, I donated both to the local RR museum. They would definitely have applicable data for you.

    That's about the best I can do, but I bet there's others here that have better knowledge.
     
  4. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    In 1964, GN F units were still very commonly used in heavy main line freights, local and of course passenger service. Railroads with high quality facilities for maintaining them, kept their F units quite viable until the late 1970's and early 1980's, so in 1964, they still had a long life ahead. There was nothing as yet on the scene, in any quantities, to displace them. They were only retired if severely mangled in a derailment, etc. Otherwise they were still masters of the Empire.
     
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  5. ddechamp71

    ddechamp71 TrainBoard Member

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    GN's successor, BN, was the last Class 1 RR to use and retire its crowds of F-Units, at the beginning of the eighties. Close to the end if they mainly were used as power on branchlines they were still seen as manned helpers (for example on Marias Pass) as well as, sometimes, road power on long and heavy freights...

    So I guess that 15 years earlier They were spread everywhere and for any service..

    Dom
     
  6. Gary Helriegel

    Gary Helriegel TrainBoard Member

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    Huh, I would have thought that heavier power would have started displacing these a little earlier. I'm glad that they're still workhorses in the era I'm modeling, though- an F7 in 'full' Empire Builder livery is a beautiful thing. Thanks for the info, all.

    HemiAdda2d - I don't have those yet, but they're now on my to-acquire list. Been focusing my money on acquiring rolling stock/building benchwork, but more books are definitely in the future.
     
  7. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    1981.
     
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  8. VinceP

    VinceP TrainBoard Member

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    Actually Boxcab I remember a BN F9A on point with mixed f's and GP's on the Sumas Turn in 1982.

    This train used to run from auburn to Sumas at the Canadian border.

    Lived right above the mainline in 1982 how I remember.
     
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  9. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Wish you had a dated picture to verify that.
     
  10. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Speakin' of old BN F-units on the Sumas Line, I just purchased a DVD from Pentrex "Covered Wagons of the Cascade".

    About the best video I've seen of the old F's on the BN's line from Sedro Woolley to Sumas, all filmed about '81.

    It's a must have!:D:D:D
     
  11. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    The reason I wonder about 1982 is that by late 1980, they were steadily being deadlined, and slowly accumulating at Auburn Yard. Tracks around the engine house full of F units. Units were already going to the scrappers in numbers, mid-1981. Have slides of those dead lines, including at least one of the units which was sold to Simon & Sons, then leased to the Seattle & North Coast in 1981. Also, supposedly the last stand of F units was out of Whitefish, Montana. (This was in an article published by one of the fan magazines.) From there being used in helper service on Marias Pass, 1981. The last picture I took of an active BN F unit was on the Snoqualmie Turn, mid-summer of 1981.

    I grabbed this one in late 1980, at Sumas:
    [​IMG]
     
  12. gmorider

    gmorider TrainBoard Member

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    Time worn pic. I would drive an F unit for errands and other trips if I could. ;)
     
  13. Des Moines Rocket

    Des Moines Rocket TrainBoard Member

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    You mention Seattle & North Coast F units. I have a few photos floating around here, that I took of two F7s painted and lettered for S&NC in West Des Moines, IA (!!!) in about 1986 or so. I have no idea what they were doing there, but they were sitting on an industrial spur off the ex-Milwaukee Road branch line from Des Moines to Spirit Lake, and they looked like they were being worked on mechanically. I seem to remember the number 103 on one of them. Perhaps bound for a short line or dinner train in Iowa? They weren't on that spur for too long and have no idea where they went.

    If I find the photos, I will scan and post them here.
     
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  14. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Yes. One ex-SNCT unit went to Doyle McCormack. He restored it to original GN. It was stranded after huge, huge storm wrecked that branch line. Still there, on the Oregon Coast Scenic RR. The other two went east for dinner train use. Have moved a couples of times, at least, now. I lost track of them.
     
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  15. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    [​IMG]
     
  16. VinceP

    VinceP TrainBoard Member

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    As I don't remember what unit number it was I wish I had owned a camera back then.

    Look on BN photo archives under F9A you'll see a lot of them lasted into the last half of 1982.

    Other than the rotary power unit's and the executive F units 1982 was their twilight year.
     
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  17. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Just about the time BN started receiving the batches of GP39's(F-unit killers!:mad:), and the F's went into the scrap lines.:cry:
     
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  18. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Just noticed the NP paint showing on her, cool!
     
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  19. BoxcabE50

    BoxcabE50 HOn30 & N Scales Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    I really miss those days of REAL Class 1 individuality. :cry:
     
  20. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    Well, as a Santa Fe man, I'm not sure I appreciate all this talk about who was the last to operate F-7s.

    [​IMG]

    But I also can't say I appreciate what the Cleburne shops did for their looks.
     
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