I’ve seen where CF&'s usally make the list for ugliest locomotive. Some have tagged them among the worst locomotives. What I’ve noticed, is that a lot of spin-offs and shortlines bought or leased them for their first locomotives. Was that just because they were cheap to buy? Perhaps, cheap, because they fell out of favor with other roads? What of Santa Fe? What was their experience with them?
The CF7 (Cleburne Geep?) was a solution to a problem almost unique to ATSF. ATSF had a higher proportion of F’s in its roster than almost any other large road and F’s are not very practical for use in local freight service. Trading them in for GP38’s to cover local schedules would have been expensive and Santa Fe had capable shops. Rebuilding an F-unit into a road switcher required a lot of extra engineering but was still cheaper than buying new power. Santa Fe got 15+ years out of their CF7’s before retiring them. Over 200 F’s were rebuilt into CF7’s. They were the functional equivalent of a rebuilt GP7 so shortlines and industrials were able to get some capable power on the cheap.
Worst from a railfan’s point of view, maybe! From a railroader’s point of view, I liked them quite a bit. They were well-built, low operating cost, low-maintenance locomotives. The cabs were fine and the pulling characteristics were at least as good as GP7. Better, usually, because most of them had D77 traction motors and the wiring didn’t all ground out when it got wet. If you had a choice between a GP7 and a CF7, there was no choice except a bad one - the GP7. Unless you liked old, crusty wiring and dozens of dirty, junky relays, and did not like new insulation, sealed electronics, and clean, simple electrical cabinets. If you were that kind of a masochist, then maybe you liked the GP7.
The weaknesses of the CF7 were the frame, the BC engine, and the GP38.
Frame: The F7 acheived its structural strength using a box truss structure – the walls and roof were part of the strength. The CF7 dispensed with the box truss by going to a sheet-metal carbody on a strong underframe, like a GP7 and all subsequent EMD freight locomotives, and thus Santa Fe designed and fabricated a built-up gusseted underframe to recapture the strength. The new underframe was marginal and many CF7s died after a hard-coupling event bent or broke the underframe. When we inspected CF7s for industrial customers when Santa Fe retired them, the first thing we would do is sight down the underfr
I think they are interesting not ugly . I for one like them .
I agree with Carknocker I like them,they are cute lil’ fellers.I have 4 of them my self 2Railpower bodies on Athern frames and 2 RTR Athern’s.The 2 Railpower units have added weight and weigh the same as a BB F7 superpower.They pull real nice.
WC3023
Heck I still get to SEE them the IL railnet has 2 they STILL USE.
A nearby tourist line had a couple they used to operate, they were always interesting to see. They are gone now replaced by regular GP7s, I believe. If I recall, the CF7s had two different cab configurations from what I’ve seen in pictures, one of generous proportions and one with a more rounded top that just lookes kinda weird.
The 2 different cabs that Trainfan refers to are the round cab or first cab which was made out of parts of the F7 car bodies ( the roof and side windows).The second cab was built in the Santa Fe shops and I believe it was called the Topeka Cab
WC3023
Here’s some useful links for data on the CF7’s: http://rosters.gcrossett.com/atsf/master/CF7/reference.htm
Am I reading this correctly, that the CF7 frame was built by SF? Was it cast, or welded together?
Almost the only diesel-electric locomotives with cast frames were very early and in the whole scheme of things a tiny fraction of the fleet by the mid-1950s – EMD SC switchers and the like. Everything else was a weldment built up of structural shapes and plate. The F7 frame was a box truss consisting of floor, sides, ends, and roof. Everything but the sheet metal skin was structural. The CF7 frame had to dispense with the box truss form in order to gain the advantages of a sheet-metal carbody for maintenance access and corner steps for switchmen to stand on. Thus everything that was above engine-room deck level of the F7 box truss frame was burned off. What was left was only the floor chord of the box truss, which was relatively light in construction because it was only one piece of the former structure, so it was reinforced with plate-girder side sills welded to the original F7 floor carcass by Santa Fe. So to answer your question, the CF7 frame was built by Santa Fe from the original F7 floor member.
RWM
I misunderstood. I thought you meant the CF7’s had new frames. If they cut off the top off the F7 box trusses, I can see why the resulting frames were wimpy. Are the still operating CF7’s just lucky, or have they had their frames re-reinforced? I saw one 2 years ago, on Minnesota Commercial, so I know there may be others still in use. I haven’t yet read through the list provided in a post above.
How difficult would it be to rebuild a cowled F40 into a GP38? I think EMD cowls like the former Amtrak F40s and Canadian draper tapers already have strong frames.
There have been a few F40PHs rebuilt into freight units but they remained cowl units. Front and rear “porches” were added with handrails and steps for brakemen. I know that one of the companies that owned and operated the former Bangor & Arostook rostered some (although IINM those lines have changed hands since).
Cowl units such as F40PH, SDP40F, F45 and FP45 are not true carbody type units in that the cowls are only sheathing and do not contribute to the structural strength of the frame. Converting any of them into a road-switcher would require little more than sheet-metal work.
I believe the CF7s had three – not two – types of cabs:
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curved roof with original F-unit side windows
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curved roof with new side windows
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angular roof (which WC3023 is referring to as the “Topeka cab”)
In addition to different cab types, CF7s had different types of exhaust stacks. Also, the first CF7s did not have ACs. This link shows a brief summary of CF7s:
http://trainweb.org/jfuhrtrain/CF7frames/CF7photos.htm
Take care,
Russell