I know that I’ve read that Santa Fe tried to keep their Warbonnets together as units and also resisted putting them on freight service. Still, it is very common to find models of F7s in Warbonnet paint, and in sets with freight cars and a caboose.
What was the prototypical practice regarding passenger painted units in freight service?
Hello “mreagent,” In general, from the 1930s through the mid 1960s, the Santa Fe used its passenger diesels with the red-nose warbonnet paint scheme primarily in passenger service. (Train sets are obviously not a reliable indicator of prototype practice.) When the Santa Fe’s passenger service was at or near its height, most of those red noses were needed every day to cover passenger assignments. There were some exceptions, however, most notably the 325 class F7s which were purchased as protection power to retire older steam passenger engines. These units had the full passenger paint scheme but a compromise gear ratio allowing a top speed of 85mph. When not needed in passenger service they would be assigned to freight trains. Also, as passenger service declined in the 1960s, and when newer hood and cowl units arrived to displace the older passenger diesels, it became more common to find F3 and F7 passenger units in freight service. Before Amtrak began operations on May 1, 1971, the Santa Fe re-assigned the new hood and cowl type passenger units to freight service and returned the Fs to its passenger trains, and many of those units continued working for Amtrak in its early years. Meanwhile, the Santa Fe began rebuilding its F-unit fleet in 1970 as CF-7 road switchers. This work was done at the Cleburne, Texas, shops, and most of the road’s F units, both freight and passenger types, spent much of the 1970s working Texas freight trains so they’d be near to Cleburne when it was their turn to be converted. So long, Andy
The ‘War Bonnet’ paint scheme was for passenger diesels. The freight diesels got a Blue/Yellow paint scheme. With gearing for high speed passenger service, they would not make good freight engines. In later years, the ‘War Bonnet’ F’s did see freight service. After the start of Amtrak, I suspect you might see a single Red/Silver F unit pulling a local…
ATSF later resurrected the paint scheme for engines pulling premium service intermodal trains.
Jim
Things may have changed in recent years, but I suspect most hobby shop owners or model manufacturers will tell you the Santa Fe stuff tends to be their top seller, regardless of region, and the ‘warbonnet’ scheme is probably a big part of that. I’m sure if company A makes two freight train sets, and uses a correct blue and yellow ATSF F-unit in one, and a warbonnet F in the other, the one with the warbonnet will sell many more sets. So it makes sense manufacturers put ‘warbonnets’ in so many sets.
BTW I know in the forties, when EMD had a year-plus waiting list for new engines, that the Santa Fe took some freight FT’s and repainted them into the red and silver and installed steam generators and used them in passenger service. I think when the newer F units arrived by 1948-9-50 the RR returned these to freight service, but I’m not sure how quickly they were repainted to the blue and yellow??
I think passenger Fs might have been used for intermodal. IIIRC, ATSF introduced their super-C service in the 1960s too. In a book on the Santa Fe by Steve Glischinski, there’s a pic of red/silver F units hauling 40’ ice reefers out of Chicago in 1966. Some passenger Fs were used for freight, the type of freight that tolerated or benefited from higher gearing, though some of these were dual-service Fs a previous poster mentioned.
EMD F unit in the yellow bonnet scheme. Obvious passenger engine.
By the time that F-unit had a yellow nose, ATSF ceded passenger operations to Amtrak. This was one of the experimental schemes ATSF applied just prior to coming out with the yellowbonnet freight scheme in 1972. Another passenger red/silver F-unit was repainted with a blue nose with a yellow cigar. Also, several freight F9s were repainted into the freight yellowbonnet some time prior to being rebuilt as CF7s. A couple F9s I know of that were repianted were ATSF 285 and 286.