Nostalgia & History > How do you wrap a locomotive?.....Part 1

When Southern Pacific ordered some new locomotives, a lot of them had arrived in Eugene to be set up for operation. Unfortunately there was a downturn in business and SP decided that the new SD40T-2s were not needed right away. They had sufficient older power to handle the slower business trend. So they were going to wrap the locomotives up after shop forces prepared them by draining all the fluids from them. This first photo shows several of the units on the Eugene Garden Tracks next to the roundhouse awaiting packaging. Some of the units are #8270, 8266, 8280, 8271 and 8273.

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Here is SD40T-2 #8230 wrapped and in storage on one of the departure yard tracks in the Eugene SP yard. To help identify the units they spray painted the locos number on the fuel tank and/or the wrapping material.

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Here are more of the units in storage starting with the one seen in the previous photo. They are #8230, 8231, 8232, 8233, 8234, 8265, 8266, 8268 and 8270. Others can be seen in the distance that have not been covered yet. Looking south from near Beltline Rd. overpass.

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Here is the line up 6 months later from Maxwell Rd. overpass looking south again. Units in line are #8238, 8239, 8240, 8290, 8241, 8243, 8235, 8242, 8289, 8252, 8255, 8247, 8251, 8254, and 8244. They ran out of black material and went to white............ C.C.Chas.

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Paint may have held up a tad better if they kept them in that 'scheme', hehehe...


SH

Hmmmm, reminds me of the Enterprise Rent-a-car commercials. Were they just trying to keep the paint clean & the wildlife out?


Robby F. (Mr. MRL)

What year were they eventually put into service?
Brian

I can remember an article in Model Railroader way back in the early 80's about how to kitbash a "wrapped" locomotive. The basis for the article were the SP SD40T-2's... I don't think I still have the issue, but I'll look anyway.

IU

I had also heard that another reason RRs sometimes did this was because the mfg. warranty didn't begin until the locos were actually put into service. Better to run the crap out of your old stuff before starting the new if you can!

PC7461

MrMRL Wrote:
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> Hmmmm, reminds me of the Enterprise Rent-a-car
> commercials. Were they just trying to keep the
> paint clean & the wildlife out?
>
>
> Robby F. (Mr. MRL)

Pretty much; also to keep the elements (rain, snow, etc.) out of the intakes and exhaust stack. Espee did the same to some of the GP38-2s they received during that year. Nice pics - post more, please!

PE

I can still remember seeing them there. Rows of them. Kind of kewl...

..wrap it up...I'll take it....

C.C.Chas. and all-

I remember that combined with the downturn in business for the SP, there was also some type of State imposed surcharge that California was asking for, and the SP decided to wait it out. I don't recall the duration that SP would have to wait, but, I definitely remember what happened next.

The Santa Fe was again (fourth or fifth year running) caught up in the typical seasonal power shortage. I don't know who approached who, but it is my belief that the Santa Fe not only paid the surcharges, but then leased the lot of them for use in the "Golden State".

I know that 3rdswitch and his business partner Don, got shots of Santa Fe trains on Tehachapi, with a single Santa Fe unit leading quartets or quintets of these brand new 40T-2's.

And, I can remember seeing the same thing on several occasions during the early part of that summer, as the "First Wilmington Turn", passing by my house in Torrance, California, having similar consists.

Thanks for the memories, C.C.

Bob

ATSF100WEST......Out

I'll have to dig up the picture I have, but I could swear that at least one of the Sulzer-equipped GE "Popsicles" was parked on the lead next to the wrapped ones or was even 'wrapped' itself, but I'll have to find the picture before I'm sure of the facts.

California demanded sales tax on SP rebuilt engines from their california shops., So, SP sent the rebuilds up to Oregon and made them ready for service there, avoiding the sales tax.

pecosvalleychief Wrote:
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> ..wrap it up...I'll take it....


I like that song ...


TCS - "can't chya see I'm workin' on it ? work, work, work "

TopcoatSmith Wrote:
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> pecosvalleychief Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ..wrap it up...I'll take it....
>
>
> I like that song ...
>
>
> TCS - "can't chya see I'm workin' on it ? work,
> work, work "


Can you imagine the freight cost (weight-based)to ship one next-day air via USPS, FedEx, UPS, or DHL? It would have to be done with an Antonov 'An-124' (They've been used to haul locos to other contries!).

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Hmmm...Christo and Jean-Claude have been at it again...

IU_Tower Wrote:
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> I can remember an article in Model Railroader way
> back in the early 80's about how to kitbash a
> "wrapped" locomotive. The basis for the article
> were the SP SD40T-2's... I don't think I still
> have the issue, but I'll look anyway.

and I think another point in the article was you could use a botched locomotive
(either damaged, or with a bad paint job), since you were going to cover it up
anyway :)

SantaFeCF7 Wrote:
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> Can you imagine the freight cost (weight-based)to
> ship one next-day air via USPS, FedEx, UPS, or
> DHL? It would have to be done with a C-5B Galaxy
> (They've been used to haul locos to other
> contries!).

GE used to use (and still may be) a Russian Antonov 124 to fly 777 engines from Ohio to Seattle (777 engines are as large as a 737 fuselage and cost about $10-$12 million each).
I recognize that pic as an Iarnrod Eireann GM export, saw many last november live.


TCS - ow, my eye