I have the ole athearn GP-9 ( which if memory serves me right is actually a gp 7) as well as a SW-1500. Id like to use them both on my layout but heres a few questions. first off, what color scheme would those be in circa '55-59 ? the SW comes in the blue and yellow scheme but that seems a bit too modern to my eyes( then again i wasnt even born in those years) the gp is undecorated right now. Secondly , what exactly is a GP torpedo? Last saturday i had the oppurtunity to pick up a Juneco detail kit for 1$ but figruing it might not be appropriate time or roadname wise, i left it there… was i wrong? would GP-9 torpedo have worked in southern california in those years?If not then would it me more appropriate to use it for southern Pacific ( the railroad that will interchnage with mine) ? if so, then what would be appropriate scheme ( somehow i wanna say back with orange lettering but im sure some SP fan can correct me there if im wrong…)
thanks for the help
I’ve just gotten both to work pretty smoothlyl so hopefully they can be of use to me
Is the SW1500 the real SW1500 that Athearn came out with in the 1990s, or is it the SW7 (if I remember correctly) that Athearn used to call a SW1500? EMD did not introduce the SW1500 until the mid to late 1960s.
regarding the term torpedo. some geeps were used occasionally in passenger service which required a steam generator for train heat in the short hood and an extra tank for the water under the locomotive adjacent to the fuel tank. since that was originally the position of the air reservoirs, the four air tanks were relocated to the top of the locomotive and looked like torpedos sitting up there. dual service geeps were often geared a little higher that those used exclusively in freight service but the different top speed was still not on a par with “E” units or pure passenger engines. when i worked on the IC, i think they were geared for about 83 or 87 mph. (our E units were good for 117) passenger geeps also had a stack for the boiler exhaust on top of the short hood… by the way, a good source for prototype photos along with dated information is the fallen flag railroad photo site on the web.
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/atsf/atsf2099ags.jpg this photo shows a later, chop nose santa fe geep with the air tanks on top. it may be for the purpose of an enlarged fuel tank instead of a water tank for steam heat. i do not know much about atsf diesel power,
The AT&SF switchers & GP9’s were delivered in the black with silver/white diagonal stripe ‘Barracade’ scheme. This lasted into about 1959. Somewhere in mid-production of the SD24 engines, AT&SF changed to the blue/yellow ‘Book Ends’ paint scheme.
SP GP9’s were delivered in the ‘Black Widow’ paint scheme. Some late production(with low noses) phase 3 GP9’s were delivered in the grey/scarlet ‘Bloody Nose’ paint scheme. I think this was about 1958.
Usually ‘Torpedo Tube’ GP’s are set up for passenger service. The area under the frame where the air tanks reside has been taken over for steam boiler water tanks. The air tanks were moved to the roof.
If you’ve got the old Athearn Geep, it’ll have a dynamic brake. You’ll have to remove that to provide room for the air tanks. At least, that’s true for the “typical” torpedo Geep. Possibly someone can provide an example of an early Geep with dynamics and top mounted tanks. Frisco had some GP35’s with both–they used two larger tanks rather than the more typical four smaller. Also, I haven’t a clue whether SP had any early Geeps with top mounted air tanks. It’s your railroad, though.
Here is a reference index to photos and plans of ATSF GP-7s, primarily information in publications of the Santa Fe Rwy Historical and Modelers Organization…
GP-7 plans RMC May66 p.28 painting GP-7 in zebra Mod RRer Mov85 p.134 review of Atlas GP7 ModRRer Feb88 p.39 review of Atlas GP7 ModRRer Jan96 p.44 N model: review ModRRer 9/69 GP-7B plans RMC May66 p.29 #2313 1977 Warbonnet 4Q95 p.26 #2650 in passenger service Warbonnet 4Q96 p.14 #2650 @ Argentine engine terminal 1971 SF Trackside w/ Bill
Santa Fe had both the GP7 and SW7 on the roster both were delivered in the early 1950’s in “Zebra Stripe” paint of black with silver stripes. The GP7 could be left the way it is and painted. There were some GP7’s on the Santa Fe in the 2890 series that were probably used as a model for the dies Athearn used. 2893 would be a good number. Champ Decals makes a lettering set for the Zebra Stripe paint. The SW7 also would use the same decal set from Champ. When using this set decal the stripes on the cab first centering the rectangle for the number on the cab side. Photos would be excellent. Try “Fallen Flags” and Q Station.
The blue and yellw “Pinstripe” scheme came in 1959
Santa Fe owned a special type of SW7 called the TR4. A TR4 is a transfer locomotive consisting of a TR4A and a TR4B. We call them Cow & Calf. The two TR4s that Santa Fe owned were based at Argentine Yard in Kansas City and served there for most of their career with the railroad.
The torpedo geeps were common in Southern California in the late fifties, Santa Fe used them in local passenger/mail service. They sported aluminum stripes over a black carbody as delivered.
SP was also the owner of several torpedo geeps, displaying the black widow colors of aluminum, orange, black, red. These were assigned to the Del Monte, conventional geeps had insufficient water tankage for the round trip between San Francisco and Monteray, thus the enlarged underbelly tank made possible by top mounted air tanks made up for the lack of dynamic brakes. These were virtual captives on the San Francisco pennisula. It is interesting to note that had EMD not been able to supply GP nines, SP was prepared to place a order with Baldwin for steam generator equipped roadswitchers!
I recall seeing ATSF ‘torpedo boat’ Geeps at the Grand Canyon in 1956. I want to say that they were all blue, but at a half-century plus I can’t be sure. (I also fail to remember whether they had dynamic brakes - logic says they did, memory says [?])
GP7/9’s were delivered to Canadian Pacific with short ‘torpedo tubes’ above the forward radiator fans(sort of like those you see on SD24’s). There may be other examples, but I am not aware of any. The underbody was filled up with fuel/boiler water tanks between the trucks.
Got out a couple of my Santa Fe books to check out the GP7s. There were 250 GP7s on the Santa Fe. This included 244 GP7s #2650-2893, 5 GP7Bs #2788A-2792A and 1 GP7M #99. Of these GP7s there were 21 units with steam generators: #2650-2654, 2848, and 2879-2893. The first six passenger GP7s were the ones with the “Torpedo Tube” air tanks. The last 15 passenger GP7s had dynamic brakes and frame mounted air tanks. All these GP7s were delivered in the Zebra Stripe paint scheme. Repaints to the blue and yellow “Bookends” paint scheme started in about 1960. Santa Fe diesel data from Early Diesel Daze by John McCall and The Santa Fe Diesel Volume 1 by Cinthia Priest.
Keep in mind if the Athearn GP is really old - like more than 10-15 years old - it probably has the old unprototypically wide body to allow for the old motor they used. Not sure if the switcher would be too wide too, but I suspect it might. If that’s the case you might be better getting more recent models from Athearn, Proto or Atlas - which you can probably get pre-dec in the correct paint schemes.
