Nostalgia & History > Front-Coupled FFriday...

Classic roster shots are never supposed to include the hindquarters of another locomotive coupled to your subject.

These were always B-listed for that reason. But sometimes there's really interesting stuff to see anyway. And time has a way of making even the most rejectable shots worthwhile.

And actually, I always liked these pics.

1. SP 6457, one of 16 EMD FP7s in Southern Pacific's passenger pool. Ubiquitous by the late 1960s. Here supplying a little extra shove and some supplemental steam heat for Train 11, the inbound "Cascade", at Martinez CA on March 1, 1969.

2. SP 6451, a sister, doing the same for Train 51, the "San Joaquin Daylight" at Fresno, CA in November of 1969. The SDPs were going it alone on the SJD by this time, but longer consists drew out a second unit. The sleeper is a deadhead move.

3. SP 6388, one of the boiler-control and icicle breaker bar-equipped passenger pool F7s. Bumped to freight service by a reduction in passenger traffic, and cosmetically neglected. Fresno eastbound, 1969 or early 1970.

SP kept its passenger power looking pretty nice in passenger train service. The weathering patterns would challenge modelers.

Note the small rotary air valve on SP 6457, under the frame between the builder's plate and the 'F'. That's the cutout valve for Automatic Train Stop. Even if you can't see the ATS magnet valve underneath, this little valve and piping on the Engineer's side is the giveaway that a unit is equipped with ATS.

Note also the two positions of the forward icicle breaker bars. The forward-most position was the first version, applied in the early 1960s. But its location must have dumped big, heavy icicles into the windshield glass, so the mounting was reversed. That was done on as many F-units as could stand still in the shop in order to get the mod, but not all got swapped.

I was always happy to see the Fs, especially after the SDPs (which I liked) had bumped them from first-line duty. Steam fans wouldn't look twice. But I was a kid. I loved those bloody noses, big as a barn and streamlined. And what a nice noise from the 567s...

~ BZ

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Security Bank in #2 - the name disappeared many years ago. And there's the Pullman shed in the background of #3.

Jim Lancaster

Why were the icicle breakers made in sections like that? Cab has only outer edges, other end has only the center section. What was the advantage?

Where else could we be except Fresno? :-)

A number of my shots from those years also include the time-and-temperature sign on top of the Fresno Guarantee Savings & Loan building.

I love when it shows 103° or higher. The Waukeshas on the "Daylight" were working hard!

My guess on the three-section bars? If one gets taken out, they all don't go. And separating them means that a few hundred pounds of giant Sierra icicles aren't coming down in one place.

It was not uncommon for the rear center bar to take a hit somewhere. It would get shoved backwards and you could spot that by the sharper peak and converging legs that resulted. PAs also.

Fine point -- SP had 17 model FP7. But I was talking about the 1953-built group, and was omitting SP 6462 from discussion. (The ex-SSW Cotton Belt non-dynamic brake unit.)

And at the time of the photos, the FP7 fleet was down to 15 plus the ex-SSW unit, since SP 6452 had been written off.

Just wanting to dot my tees and cross my i's.

~ BZ

Awesome Bob, Thanks for posting!!

I used to subscribe to that "don't bother to shoot it if it's front coupled" theory. I sure would like to go back and get a second chance at all the engines I passed up over the years!