Nostalgia & History > ATSF old locos awaiting their fate

They used to say old truckers don't die, they just get a new Peterbilt. What do old railroaders get? what do old Santa Fe ALCOs get? To become rebar in a new truck terminal for the new Peterbilts perhaps.

Con

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I thought that I'd written captions on these images. that's what I get for thinking. These were sitting in a scrap yard just west of El paso a ways, not quite inside of New Mexico though. "Pert nigh, but not plumb" as old Texicans used to say. Anyways this scrap yard was attached to a small recycling scrap steel mill at Vinton Texas, and this yard had handy access to both the SP and to the ATSF at that time in 1977 or 1978. I'm just guessing for reasons that I can't recall that these were former ATSF units. I know that they weren't former SP, because the SP never had any RS 1's, RS 2's, or RS3's, and that's what these were. There were several old dead ALCOs there at the time, but they didn't look like they were in any immediate danger of becoming rebar at any time soon. I don't know what their ultimate fate was, nor when it may or may not have happened.

Con

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Here is a picture of an old ALCO still doing what it was meant to do, so I guess that it didn't get melted down anytime soon back then.

TCS, do you reckon that Aythern is gonna bring one of these out to you or for you too? What happens to old Ay-thern's when you can't sell them at train shows, or in garage sales? Instead of rebar, do they get melted down and become styrofoam cups instead?

Con

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Santa Fe only had one RS-2, retired 1969. It had a steam generator, and the unit in your photo does not. Santa Fe's RS-1's had steam too, and since all but preserved 2394 spent their lives in Chicago, I doubt the scrapyard in Vinton got them.

The last photo shows a Fairbanks Morse H12-44, not an Alco. I think it WAS a former Santa Fe unit, but I'm not sure of the number.

The RS 1 would seem to be ex Washington Terminal,(DC) The RS 2 best guess would be ex
Birmingham Southern from the number. This is still a long way from home for these units.

Keith A