Nostalgia & History > Thirties Thursday - FRESH Quartet of "Dress Blues"

This exceptional image of the 1258 - 1255 - 1214 - 1223 at Belen, New Mexico, was taken in September of 1964. The oldest of the lot - the 1214 - was built in May, 1962. The newest - the 1258 - was built in March, 1963. Three of the four made it to BNSF. The 1258 was destroyed in a wreck at Quirk, New Mexico, in June, 1977.

To me, this scheme (with old numbers and solid blue handrails) is by far and away the best ever applied to a Santa Fe freight hood unit.

(Original photographer unknown; Bob Finan Santa Fe Railway Photographic Collection)

Bob

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Oh yes, they are handsome!

I'm very partial to pinstripe too.


Jim

Sharp dressed, to be sure, Bob.

Very cool, Bob
30's are so well designed and Chuck Smiley says there actually were 30 improvements.

And as a former navy corpsman who proudly served with the Marines I appreciate your reference to "Dress Blues."

Posted from iPhone

A handsome set Bob.  This certainly is the scheme to remember.
Brian Stevens

ATSF100WEST Wrote:
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> To me, this scheme (with old numbers and solid
> blue handrails) is by far and away the best ever
> applied to a Santa Fe freight hood unit.
>
> Bob
>
> ATSF100WEST......Out

No argument from me!  Great shot, and I became a fan just before Santa Fe renumbered everything!

Lee Hower - Sacramento

Without a doubt, the best looking freight scheme ever!  Love those "dress blues."  Thanks for sharing Bob.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Well, I agree about the Dress Blues....almost......because, in my opinion, the Dress Blues were best with the smaller lettering.  AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

That is a neat shot, taken during the brief window when the GP30's and 35's were front-line, transcontinental freight power.  I don't think that's Belen, however.  Belen's sanding rack was lower and with heavier girder support beams, as seen in these views:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1411393,1411698#1411698

It wasn't possible to photograph units at the Belen sanding rack and also capture the windowless east wall of the roundhouse in the background.  You could get the west end wall, the one of poured concrete with windows in it, but not the lightweight, windowless east wall that filled in the hole left when the roundhouse was cut down in size. 

The second photo in this thread by 3rdswitch shows the sanding rack and roundhouse at Clovis, NM in 1972, and they look like a better match to the structures in the photo above:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1163960

Clovis' roundhouse had a similar blank fill-in wall on the north side that could be seen from the sanding racks in west-facing photos.

I have two memories of the new GP-30's, both negative. During the summer between my Junior and Senior year of high school I worked as a laborer in the Barstow diesel shop. The GP30s were brand new then and the sand filler recepticle was on the nose. F unit recepticles were on the roof and the sand rack hoses were set up for the F's. Trying to get sand in the GP30s was llike wrestling alligators. Sand everywhere, except where it belonged. Barstow in July at 110 degrees with sand down your shirt and in your hair made it even more miserable.  Secondly, If we ran out of meaningnful things to do, we would be put to work hand-washing the yellow noses of the GP30s, even though they had just been through the wash rack. It was busy work at its worst and tedious beyond belief. It did give me insight on future career choices, however.

I always thought that in this scheme the end sillsl were painted black, but not here.  Also, we must remember that yellow handrails served a purpose of safety, especially at night, like them or not.  Yes, many people like this scheme for its conservative simplicity, unlike the flashy warbonnet. I can't decide which I like better.  

Thirty years ago I worked with Dave Malloy, a long time Santa Fe LA Division hoghead - I was from the Valley Division - on Amtrak nos. 5-6 to Sparks and return, (this was after the Amtrak takeover of operating crews).  We started talking about engines and I asked him:  were the 1200s/3200s/2700s ever any good?  His reply:  yes, but we beat the hell out of them along with the 1300/1400s (GP-35s) and after 10 years or so they weren't  worth the powder to blow to hell.  We know now the switch gear for  transition  series/series parallel/parallel was too complex and with open relays was likely to fail without maintenance, which the railroads did not do.  As I've always said, EMD built some lemons also, not just GE and Alco.  The railroads have always wanted an engine that needed no maintenance and no one in the cab to run it. 

cabman Wrote:
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> I always thought that in this scheme the end
> sillsl were painted black, but not here.  Also,
> we must remember that yellow handrails served a
> purpose of safety, especially at night, like them
> or not.  Yes, many people like this scheme for
> its conservative simplicity, unlike the flashy
> warbonnet. I can't decide which I like better.  

The "pilot" or "pilot faces" (what I believe you are calling "end sills") ARE INDEED black.

Bob

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Thank you one and all for the kind words.

Evan, Thank you for the location correction. Slide is mislabelled.

Bob

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