Nostalgia & History > one more poor Instamatic Santa Fe

Shot from the '67 mustang along I25 somewhere between Palmer Lake and Littleton in '69 on a Christmas trip to CO with friends Santa Fe's Denver connection from La Junta headed north toward Denver.
JB

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Always wondered where the E-8 locomotives hung out. I knew that one was used in Lubbock - Amarillo service but I had no clue where else they were used.

John Gezelius
Tustin, CA

I personally have not seen many (if any) photos of Santa Fe E8's (or is it an E9?). How many did they have? Very interesting grab...

john1082 Wrote:
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> Always wondered where the E-8 locomotives hung
> out. I knew that one was used in Lubbock -
> Amarillo service but I had no clue where else they
> were used.

After they left California they were assigned to Argentine (Kansas City) for maintenance, and mostly worked between Chicago and Texas. Single units were also assigned from time to time to the Clovis-Carlsbad and La Junta-Denver trains.

danf Wrote:
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> How many did they have?

Eight E8Am's

Five E8Bm's.

ATSF 81 and 84 worked the La Junta - Denver stub until retirement in 1970. I'm wondering if the photo is backwards...I think I see the space between the A and the FE there, and the number in the number boards is the right shape for a backwards 81.

Other members of the 80-class tended to work second-class trains that ran Kansas City south to Oklahoma and Texas like the Kansas Citian/Chicagoan and the Tulsan. The 80 worked the Amarillo - Lubbock train(93-94) from 1955 until the trains were pulled off in 1965. A later photo in Steve Allen Goen's Santa Fe in the Lone Star State shows 80 working the Dallas section of the Texas Chief (115-116), and other photos in the book show 83, 85, and 86 handling those trains. The E8m's were all off the roster by June 1970.

Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> ATSF 81 and 84 worked the La Junta - Denver stub
> until retirement in 1970. I'm wondering if the
> photo is backwards...I think I see the space
> between the A and the FE there, and the number in
> the number boards is the right shape for a
> backwards 81.
>
> Other members of the 80-class tended to work
> second-class trains that ran Kansas City south to
> Oklahoma and Texas like the Kansas
> Citian/Chicagoan and the Tulsan. The 80 worked
> the Amarillo - Lubbock train(93-94) from 1955
> until the trains were pulled off in 1965. A later
> photo in Steve Allen Goen shows 80 working the
> Dallas section of the Texas Chief (115-116), and
> other photos in the book show 83, 85, and 86
> handling those trains. The E8m's were all off the
> roster by June 1970.

The 80 was on the Carlsbad train when I rode it in April '67.

Evan, sharpe as always. Even though I have already put the neg back in the "heap" so to speak. It is very possible that you are right about the transposition as I was trying to think where the road was this close on the northbound run when it is just like this much of the way on the southbound climb making me most probably wrong about the direction. It was a long time ago.
JB