Santa Fe experts needed, new Athearn yellow bonnets

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Thanks to some great show photos posted by riogrande5761, three of Athearns new Santa Fe yellow bonnet F units are shown.

As you can see the locos are absolutely beautiful. But for the Santa Fe experts out there, please look closely at the trucks and underframes.

As I understand, the three “passenger” yellow bonnets, 304L, 315L, and 319 B all had silver underframes and trucks.

It is a little hard to tell from the photos if they are silver and it is just shadows that make the underframes look too dark. But then looking some more it also could be dark painted underframes.

These are not (well at least #304 pictured) the “freight” versions of the yellow bonnet which definitely had dark underframes, pilots, and trucks.

I sent a message to Athearn about these locos, and I’m hoping these are just preproduction models that didn’t have silver underframes and trucks available for the show. Or it is shadows in the photos that make the underframes look dark.

For those unfamiliar with the rare and experimental Santa Fe yellow bonnets, here are some photos of the real things.

First, the passenger locos (304L and 315L)

304L (although dirty, clearly has silver pilot, trucks, and underframe)

304L (this one clearly shows silver pilot, trucks, and underframe)

2

Okay, this came up a while ago with a D&RGW unit. I can offer several ideas:

  1. You can forget it

  2. You can airbrush it

  3. You can get a custom painter

  4. You could contact the maker and ask for a proper paint coat

  5. You could search for another maker with a proper paint coat

  6. You could search through prototype archives and try and find a prototype that the paint scheme is built around.

3

This is a general statement about the yellow warbonnets and there are probably exceptions. Maybe the Historical Society could answer this question for you. We all model from pictures and what we know so here goes.

The 304 did have the silver pilot and silver trucks in all of the pictures I have and the pictures you displayed. In general, if the pilot was blue, the trucks were black. That said, I know there are exceptions, but all of the pictures of the 304 seems to show the silver pilot and silver trucks. The later pictures show it very dirty and in black and white, they might look like they are dark in color.

Athearn must have had a picture of the 304 with the silver pilot and black trucks or it could be a mistake.

It is fairly easy to paint the trucks and fuel tank silver. This is an era that I do not model since the red and silver Warbonnets fit into the fifties scheme that I like.

CZ

4

Not when the retail price for an A/B set (with sound) is $459.98. Add another $259.98 for the other A unit and where talking a retail of over $700.00 just for an ABA lashup. I know very few actually pay retail, but still not going to be cheap. With this much cost you would think they could get the color right. It’s not like it is hard to find the right information.

I suppose I could, but again I shouldn’t have to when the photo evidence and documented evidence proves the version I’m looking into had silver trucks and underframe.

That would really be foolish after spending so much just to get the locos.

Done. Hopefully Athearn notices my comments and applies them to the models.

Intermountain made them and soon will be reissuing them. I have loco #304. Intermountain made it correct with silver trucks and a silver underframe. But then everyone knows that the Highliner shell Athearn uses for their F units is the best of the best. So that’s why I’d like to get the Athearn versions.

I did, and couldn’t find it.

Maybe I’m the only one around that is actually interested in the “passenger” yellowbonnet.&n

5

Remember that those are pre-production models so they could have just thrown a chassis underneath the pre-prod shell. What I find really interesting is that in the first prototype photo you can still see the red warbonnet scheme is the grill area. It looks like when the unit was repainted that masked over the entire grill area instead of removing the grills.

6

That’s exactly what I’m hoping (preproduction). The Santa Fe style cinder catchers should also be black instead of the silver on the preproduction models.

And excellent catch on the remaining red warbonnet. Interesting and likely happened as you describe it (masked over the grilles). I’ll have to check around some more, but so far I’ve seen it in two photos of #304. If that’s the case, then maybe to be spot on accurate I’ll have to repaint at least #304 [;)]

7

You can also see a little red where the pilot meets the body and on the mirrors. I also love the silver overspray on the body just above the pilot. I guess just about every Santa Fe passenger locomotive ended up with that towards the end (getting sloppy??). Were the trucks and pilots sprayed before every run, on a periodic schedule, or as needed? I always wondered about that. I am guessing the crews that handled that were in both Chicago and LA.