Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF Knows How To Run A Local

Yesterday while waiting to get on my train in NLR the BNSF local pulls into the yard with a classic set of power. It had a untouched BN GP10, a BNSF GP7 or 9, and a BN GP38-2. I wish I could have gotten a better angle on this shot, but it is better than nothing.

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stretch Wrote:
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> Yesterday while waiting to get on my train in NLR
> the BNSF local pulls into the yard with a classic
> set of power. It had a untouched BN GP10, a BNSF
> GP7 or 9, and a BN GP38-2. I wish I could have
> gotten a better angle on this shot, but it is
> better than nothing.

1648's a CF-7, isn't it? The odd-shaped cab's a tipoff.

All CF7's were retired from ATSF long ago. What you see there is a GP7 with a rebuilt cab.

When the Santa Fe rebuilt thier GP-7's they put a home built cab on them, look a lot like the Cleburne shops CF7 cab.
Nathan Z.

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.....was Santa Fe GP-9 717, painted in the black & silver "Zebra Stripe" scheme when delivered.

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

mario_puzo Wrote:
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> All CF7's were retired from ATSF long ago. What
> you see there is a GP7 with a rebuilt cab.

Also, none of the CF-7's had dynamic brakes.

Is that not called a "Topeka Geep"? -- -- -- -- -- -- JLH

highgreengraphics Wrote:

> Is that not called a "Topeka Geep"? -- -- -- -- --

The angular cab is sometimes called a "Topeka Cab," but when it is, someone usually chimes in with the factoid that the cabs were assembled at Santa Fe's Cleburne, TX shops, and therefore aren't "Topeka" cabs at all.

Some Santa Fe GP7's came from rebuilding and chopnosing with their original round cabs, but there were relatively few of them. The lion's share of the GP7's and all the GP9's came from rebuilding at Cleburne with angular cabs and chopped noses.

It's kind of bittersweet seeing a pair of SP black widow high-hoods and then a pair of WP orange and silver high hoods running in California, and realizing that an authentic Santa Fe black and silver zebra stripe geep set would be next to impossible without some serious sheetmetal work.

About the CF7's, only the first, 2649, had dynamic brakes, as it got a spare hood originally intended for a wreck repair of GP7B 2788A. All other CF7 hoods were manufactured in-house at Cleburne without db. Most of the CF7's came out with round cabs, but were later retrofitted with angular cabs. The easiest way to tell a CF7 from a chopnosed Santa Fe GP7 or GP9 is the CF7's fishbelly girders along the edge of the frame and the F-unit fuel tank arrangement. The CF7 cab is also somewhat longer than the geep's, making the nose shorter and flattened, not pointed.

The BNSF Little Rock local from Memphis has had some great power for several weeks now.
SD-9's in green and H1 and many other oldies but goodies..

gmojim

Where is NRL? NLR? PRNDL?

North Little Rock, AR

What do they gain by applying a new cab?

......Air Conditioning was applied to those units with the "new" style cab roof - (note the condenser on top of the 1648). The same went for the CF-7's. IIRC, the Santa Fe Enginemen got A/C for the cabs negotiated into one of their contracts.

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

...To clarify, those air conditioning units hang down a way inside the cab roof. I am tall, and had my share of whacking my head on them in AT&SF C-boats in coal service while doing walking inspections through BN locomotive consists at the beginning of my run, or if something tripped an alarm bell. They were quite low in SD-40's, too. The curved geep roof is even lower than the C-Boat GE curved roof, and no room to stand upright on either side of the air conditioning unit. So by adding the increased height, you create room for the air conditioning condenser to hang down, and by squaring up the cab roof sides, you create a space to stand fully upright on either side, a fairly expensive but not attractive modification. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --- ---- --- - JLH

I always hate it when I'm wrong, but I got quite an education here. Should have known about the fishbelly though.