Western Railroad Discussion > Red & Silver in the Mountains and Valley

Seems like only yesterday that the red and silver of the Santa Fe was alive and well--on Tehach, in the San Joaquin Valley, the Delta, and Franklin Canyon. But time marches on, and the "Super Fleet" warbonnet is becoming an ever rarer sight. Just think: just a few years from now there'll be railfans who never even saw it in the flesh!

--Steve Schmollinger

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I will always have hope that somehow it will be brought back, just like IC's black and UP's wings were. It is just too awesome an image.

By the way, the first shot was taken in the afternoon at Christie, CA, on the west side of Franklin Canyon. This shot was taken early a.m. at the Merced River Bridge, not far from the town of Ballico, CA. This was a super-long 991 train. Its trailers in the distance are visible only because the almond orchard that used to obscure the view was wiped out by a hard frost, and the newly planted replacements haven't reached a size sufficient to re-block the view yet.

--Schmo

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Schmo, simply beautiful!! As for my feelings on this wonder ful scheme, see my above post on this thread. See you down the line.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! I remember when photo number 2 (Merced River Bridge) was published. How time flies.

Don Bowen
Exeter, CA

Great shots Steve...in the second shot, the warbonnets really stand out from the neutral gray background. Well done!

Kent

Awesome shots! That first one is something out of Warbonnet heaven and the second one it exactly as I remember the hot Santa Fe superfleet trains of the early 90's! Cool thing about today is that thanks to Athearn, you can model this train with RTR GP60M's and great looking 40' abd 28' UPS trailers for the 991 train.

Here's another 991 train, this one caught on the wooden trestle between Orwood and Middle River early on a summer's morning. The timbers have since been replaced with pre-stressed concrete. The trestle is a mile long.

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Here's a shot of FP45 No. 90 as helper on an eastbound pig train at Cable. Springtime on Tehach is hard to beat.

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