The ubiquitous warbonnet

Classic Toy Trains Forum
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Again and again, books, magazine covers of toy train and real, feature the Santa Fe warbonnet, usually in the F3/F7 locomotives but also in others. A couple of new toy train books do as well. A few feature the blue and yellow warbonnet variant.

As I’m typing this, I notice a CTT ad at the bottom right side that says “Take a closer look at Lionel! “Legendary Lionel Trains” click to order. On the cover of the book picture is, you guessed it…”

There’s something magical and enchanting about the Santa Fe warbonnet livery and it bears some resemblance to the New Mexico license plate logo symbol with the accompanying words: Land of Enchantment.

The first time I saw the warbonnet scheme in real life was in 1979, during a cross-country trip. It actually was the blue and yellow varient near Clovis. And best of all, the train was running in my direction parallel to the road so I kept pace with it for 15 minutes or so and even took a picture of it, which I still have at home.

I grew up near the Penn Central, which probably had more locomotives than the Santa Fe warbonnets; but my hometown railroad really never enchanted me like the Santa Fe.

And besides that, the girl of my dreams was beside me in my 67 Malibu as we cruised the desert.

Sadly, the Santa Fe and its warbonnet is not longer with us, and the girl of my dreams is no more. And yet, I can still see the Santa Fe cruising thru the desert on my upcoming layout and yes, I can still dream about the girl I once knew and loved.

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The warbonnet lives! BNSF has painted many of their modern locomotives with it. See http://www.qstation.org/bnsflist/bnsflist.html .

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I have seen these from time to time going thru Willoughby (Cleveland). To bad I haven’t had my camera with me at the time.

tom

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They are nice, but not really the same due to their angular shape.

5

Several years ago my wife gave me a set of ABA Lionel alcos for my birthday.
They wore the Santa Fe warbonnet scheme. My two kids,3 and 7 years old at the time, reacted to them so differently than say a steam or other diesel. They still think to this day that those Santa Fes are special. It’s the engines they want to see run first. All I can think of is that that paint sheme and the way it’s applied to those engines makes them universaly appealing to young and old. Although we also have a MTH caterpillar train in yellow and black. For my kids thats a close second in appeal. But the Santa Fes are special. And to this day when I take the kids to our LHS they will see an F-3 or alcos in The warbonnet scheme and say “look dad Santa Fe.”

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