Nostalgia & History > Switcher Saturday: WAG Sr visits Atchison

In some recent new scans of the Gibson collection I found a couple of nifty roster shots of an engine that for a long time was familiar to railfans in the KS-MO-NE-IA area surrounding Atchison & St Joseph. Bill Gibson caught the 1453 (oops: ex-1153, ex 653, nee 2153) sitting in Atchison in the spring of 1978. Enjoy…

1. & 2. AT&SF 1453 idles in Atchison, KS on April 6, 1978.
(2 photos by William A. Gibson Sr. [WAG Sr])

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



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/22 21:47 by santafe199.

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Nice photos of classic power. Immediately reminded me of one of my first Lionel catalogs in the early 50's. As I am no expert on Santa Fe renumbering, I am wondering if the lighter paint behind the "14" indicates it had been changed. Interesting also that the number boards in the headlight housings appear unused. Thanks for the great photos.

Rich



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/14 11:36 by Seventyfive.

Seventyfive Wrote:
> I am wondering if the lighter paint behind the "14" indicates it had been changed...

Yessir, it was a patch-job covering the "11" of the previous number 1153. According to a trusty Instamatic shot early in my collection she was still 1153 in the summer of 1976...

Lance

santafe199 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Seventyfive Wrote:
> > I am wondering if the lighter paint behind the
> "14" indicates it had been changed...
>
> Yessir, it was a patch-job covering the "11" of
> the previous number 1153. According to a trusty
> Instamatic shot early in my collection she was
> still 1153 in the summer of 1976...
>
> Lance

And if you look at the position of the numbers below the cab window this unit was the 653 when it was last painted.
The "5" is directly below the center of the window.

Given the many road numbers this sharp motor has had, am wondering if it was always blue and yellow or was ever black and white? Also does anyone's old shots show the headlight housing number boards in use? This switcher looks like it has had an interesting history. Thanks for all the follow ups.

Rich

We operate and are intimately familiar with two 8-cylinder EMD EMD switchers but there's something about that unit that doesn't jive and I can't pinpoint it. It appears to be a rebuild of something..appears to have a cast underframe which would rule it out as a production SW-8 / SW-900 and the stepwell gussets say later production such as the SW-900; however, the hood door vents are not factory SW-8 or SW-900. The single stack says 8-cylinder but it could be a SW-600.

What the heck is it?

Dick Samuels
Oregon Pacific Railroad

EMDSW-1 Wrote:
> What the heck is it?

SW-900 according to Bill's slide, confirmed by Joe McMillan's "Santa Fe's Diesel Fleet".

Lance

EMDSW-1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We operate and are intimately familiar with two
> 8-cylinder EMD EMD switchers but there's something
> about that unit that doesn't jive and I can't
> pinpoint it. It appears to be a rebuild of
> something..appears to have a cast underframe which
> would rule it out as a production SW-8 / SW-900
> and the stepwell gussets say later production such
> as the SW-900; however, the hood door vents are
> not factory SW-8 or SW-900. The single stack says
> 8-cylinder but it could be a SW-600.
>
> What the heck is it?
>
> Dick Samuels
> Oregon Pacific Railroad

Built in 1937 as an EMC model SC. 600HP, Cast Frame. Rebuilt in 1957 by EMD as a 900HP SW900.
The extra louvers are a Topeka shop speciality.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> EMDSW-1 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > We operate and are intimately familiar with two
> > 8-cylinder EMD EMD switchers but there's
> something
> > about that unit that doesn't jive and I can't
> > pinpoint it. It appears to be a rebuild of
> > something..appears to have a cast underframe
> which
> > would rule it out as a production SW-8 / SW-900
> > and the stepwell gussets say later production
> such
> > as the SW-900; however, the hood door vents are
> > not factory SW-8 or SW-900. The single stack
> says
> > 8-cylinder but it could be a SW-600.
> >
> > What the heck is it?
> >
> > Dick Samuels
> > Oregon Pacific Railroad
>
> Built in 1937 as an EMC model SC. 600HP, Cast
> Frame. Rebuilt in 1957 by EMD as a 900HP SW900.
> The extra louvers are a Topeka shop speciality.

Ahhh...that explains why it looks like it does!

Dick Samuels



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/25/14 14:24 by EMDSW-1.

I've got a little stick time on that 1453. In the fall of '79, I was in the Hoghead training program, and was working the Emporia- Ark City local. We had 1453 on the rear of our consist, and it didn't have any MU connections or no cable, don't remember which. We filled out to our tonnage with the Winfield pick up, and Curtis McCreary the Engineer knew we would be struggling to climb out of there up the hill. He found a spare reverser, and sent me back, I put it on line, and went to R-8 with it to help get up the hill, I remember it didn't have a load meter, so I just had to guess it was working properly. We got to Ark City with it a few minutes later, and took it to the house. I remember it working there for several years.

Seventyfive Wrote:

> Given the many road numbers this sharp motor has
> had, am wondering if it was always blue and yellow
> or was ever black and white?

The blue and yellow scheme for switchers and roadswitchers was adopted in 1960, so black and aluminum zebra stripes were still the order of the day when SW900 653 came out of EMD in 1957. There is a 1963 picture of 653 still wearing the stripes on page 10 of Santa Fe Motive Power.

> Also does anyone's
> old shots show the headlight housing number boards
> in use?

Santa Fe generally did make use of headlight housing number boards. Painting and restenciling the number on the side of the cab is relatively easy, but the materials to make new small number boards for the headlight housings may not have been readily at hand, which is probably why they were temporarily painted out. Lance posted a series of photos of 653, 1153, and 1453 in this old thread, most of which show numbers in the housings:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2501499

Note also that 1453's cab was eventually repainted, masking the evidence of its last renumbering.