Railroad technology underscores the fact that change is unrelenting. The velocity of change made a quantum leap forward in the 1930s with the perfection of the diesel-electric locomotive for road service. Despite the readily apparent efficiency, early diesel locomotives were modest in size and were housed in retrogressive-looking, boxy car bodies that were not inspiring or imposing – when compared to the latest 4-8-4 steam locomotives for example. Those characteristics made them visually, unworthy contenders to skeptical “big locomotive, steam men” that governed our railroads.
Timing was near-perfect however since that decade also witnessed the birth of the age of streamlined design. Savvy Electro-Motive Corporation took the lead by employing streamlined designing to further enhance or “package” diesel-electric motive power for consumption. Studies released underscored the use of streamlining to improve aerodynamic efficiency at high speed. This was a railroad application of advanced, high level “package design” to sell a product. Once-critical railroad managers began to appreciate the efficiency potential of “diesels” that was further driven by wildly popular reaction by the public to the diesel-electric, feature trains of the decade. The torch-bearers of change were the class “E” passenger diesel and later, the class “F” units for freight service. In a curious hark-back to our pioneering past, state-of-the-art diesels so treated were nicknamed “covered wagons”.
The need for fully enclosed, streamlined car bodies died quickly however and with the exception to some post war freight units, and passenger units, most diesel-electrics produced after 1950 were more functional in every way. Design was governed by maintenance efficiency that made open walkways running the length of a locomotive the new norm. Railroads were less interested about investing in the esthetics of locomotive design.
The passenger-focused Santa Fe and Milwaukee Road revived the streamlined car body once more in the late 1960s when the need for new passenger motive power surfaced. Electro Motive produced 14 class FP45 locomotives, basically a SDP45 with a streamlined car body and steam generators, for passenger service. The builder cited the cowl-design improved the appearance of the locomotive and reduced wind resistance. Santa Fe used their units, delivered in 1967, in passenger service as intended, and also the innovative, high-speed Super C freight service.
The builder later applied that same design to the class F45 locomotives for freight service, built between 1968 and 1971, that were essentially an SD45 with the cowl-type exterior shell. Class F45 locomotives were shorter than FP45 locomotives since the latter needed extra space behind the last radiator fan for a steam generator (for passenger train heat). Several Santa Fe F45 locomotives were equipped with pass-through steam lines, so they could be mated as the second unit behind an FP45 in passenger service. The Santa Fe endorsed the design mainly for esthetics, however the Great Northern saw the opportunity to protect train crews within the most weather-challenged portions of their railroad and ordered some F45 locomotives as well.
If the rise of the F45 was fast, its fall was faster. Few railroads emulated the enthusiasm that the Santa Fe and Great Northern (later Burlington Northern) displayed for the design. The dispositions varied and preservation has been limited – and in one case – unconventional. Former Santa Fe #5960 was purchased by Revelstoke Limited LLC in June 2008. It was set to be scrapped but instead was restored externally as Great Northern 441 (GN’s last F45 was 440). It has been converted to a Luxury Locomotive Lodge at the Izaak Walton Inn at Essex, Montana. It arrived at Essex on August 26, 2009, and became available for lodging in January 2010. The interior can sleep up to four people and includes a living room, kitchen, master bedroom and bath. The cab has been restored to the current BNSF Railway specification for new and re-manufactured locomotives. It is the only locomotive in the world that has been converted to luxury living space available for rent.
Later, Morrison-Knudsen used the cowls from several scrapped BN F45s to rebuild eleven GP40s into GP40HF-2 locomotives for New Jersey Transit. 4130-4139 were completed in 1987, and 4141 in 1989 (New cowls were fabricated for 4140 and 4142-4144). M-K also used both cowls and cabs from scrapped BN F45s, to construct five F40PHL-2 locomotives on GP40 frames. They are Tri-Rail 801-805, completed in 1988.
That commanding locomotive history is new enhanced by a new release by Athearn that features:
- Full cab interior, Wire grab irons, Coupler cut levers
- See-through cab windows
- Flexible rubber trainline hose, Flexible rubber MU hoses, Lift rings
- Windshield wipers, Walkway tread
- Flush mounted port hole window glass
- Flex coil-C side frames with high brake cylinders
- Body-mounted McHenry® operating scale knuckle couplers
- DCC-ready features Quick Plug™ plug-and-play technology with 21-pin NEM connector
- Fine-scale Celcon handrails for scale appearance
- Detailed fuel tank with fuel fillers, fuel gauges, and breather pipes
- Genesis driveline with 5-pole skew wound motor, precision machined flywheels, and multi-link drivetrain
- All-wheel drive with precision gears for smooth & quiet operation
- All-wheel electrical pickup provides reliable current flow
- Wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular brands of track
- Bidirectional LED lighting
- Heavy die-cast frame for greater traction and more pulling power
- Accurately-painted and –printed paint schemes
- Fully-assembled and ready-to-run
- Minimum radius: 18” — Recommended radius: 22″
Please take time to explore this new product, and our entire inventory of locomotives and cars, in your search to perfect the operating needs and visual impact on your model railroad empire.
Frank Wrabel
modeltrainstuff.com