Nostalgia & History > WAG Wednesday: Oh, those E units on #12!

Santa Fe had arguably the most famous passenger paint scheme in the world. But ask a typical railfan what engine model he thinks of first when asked about Red & Silver and 9 out of 10 (or more) will answer “F unit”. Just the way it is. World-famous Warbonnet Fs? You bet! Classic for sure, no argument whatsoever.

But a Santa Fe E unit in Red & Silver? Take a look: Three long & graceful Es in consist, followed by a long string of low-level cars. A gorgeous train. E units up front (even a bit dirty) with elegant lines and a classic beauty all their own! My, oh my…

1. AT&SF 13 pauses with 2 more Es on train #12, the “Chicagoan” at 4th Street in Topeka, KS during a station stop on February 12, 1966.
Photo by William A. [Art] Gibson Jr.

Thanks for looking back!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/22 21:17 by santafe199.

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Thanks for showing this photo & for the look back. Really nice.

Ronda Thomas

Lance, you remember RD Bush. He used to say most rr's ran the steam through the train, but Santa Fe ran the trains through the steam.

Posted from Android

My oh My, is correct...beautiful...

Steve

Lance: make that "3" or more E's.

ddg Wrote:
> ..RD Bush ... used to say ...but Santa Fe ran the trains through the steam...

That is exactly the kind of anecdote he would come up with. Of ALL of the characters I ever came across in my career, RD has to rank right up there on top! The classic one-of-a-kind. (thank-gawd... ;^)

Lance

F-units wore it and wore it well, but that famous scheme was designed for slant-nosed E-units. Thanks for sharing the photo, Lance.

Now that's what a 'streamliner' should look like up front!

Is that an RDC I see on the left?

How many RDCs did the Santa Fe have?

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

Probably a business car, they tied them up on steam there all the time. Sometimes they called the it "puzzle" track. In the mid 70's when I was a Carman at Topeka, I got sent to 4th street for a week on vacation relief. I hooked up hoses, changed brake shoes and did air tests in the yard for the locals that came to pick up and set out. One night the Yardmaster called me and told me to come over to the platform and help put a car on #16. I hooked up the steam & air lines, and gave them an air test. A week later I got a nasty gram via the yellow company envelope telling Mr. Briscoe's car had run out of water east of Ft. Madison, because I had not topped it off with water. I didn't work that job regular, and nobody bothered to tell me to check it before it went out.

That is not one of the AT&SF RDCs. They had two cars. One is gone and one is now in California. wag216

Great look Lance and Art---that makes a train look good.
Brian Stevens

Sweet! Thanks for sharing

BEAUTIFUL! Thanks Lance!