I always keep some of my N scale stuff out on display and today I set up my Kato SF RS2 out and noticed the little tiny “F” (locomotive front) marker on the short hood. I prefer my Alco’s the other way around running long hood forward, but which way did Santa Fe run them? Is Kato correct?
The model features the Zebra strip scheme and numbered 2110, long fuel tank, and single large headlights. I have done a search for pics but haven’t come up with very much.
Hi
I am not expert but i doubt that ATSF would have run the Rs-1 short hood first
regards
stefano
It appears that Kato is correct (I would be surprised if they weren’t). Google Santa Fe RS 2 click on the top link, if you have locomotive 2099, this shows it in the later Blue and Yellow paint scheme, and mentions that, that particular locomotive previously wore the Zebra Stripe paint scheme. The pic clearly shows the somewhat faded “F” on the short hood end of the locomotive.
Doug
The Santa Fe’s RS-2 was a roster oddity because there was only the one. It was built in May 1950 as Alco demonstrator no. 1600, purchased by the Toledo, Peoria & Western, then sold second-hand to the Santa Fe on October 24, 1950, probably at a bargain price. The short-hood end was indeed the front, but the unit had that in common with the Santa Fe’s 2100-class RSD-5s.
The RS-2’s original Santa Fe number was 2110, but it was renumbered to 2099 in May 1952. It was equipped with a steam generator, and in 1953 it was photographed powering passenger trains 117 and 118 between Phoenix, Ariz., and Cadiz, Cal. (Cadiz was on the Needles District main line and the Phoenix trains connected with transcontinental trains 3 and 4 to and from California destinations.) Later the 2099 worked as a station switcher in San Diego. It was traded in to GE in 1969.
So long,
Andy