Model Railroading > Pretty Pic but is it plausible?

On my SWP a pair of Warbonnet C44-9Ws lead an autorack train east into Tunnel 1.
The first car is a Santa Fe rack, as sold by Walthers.
In searching the various web sites I have found only one prototype image that resembles this car and it was at a shop and likely a publicity shot for the ATSF.
So the question is: Did the Santa Fe or BNSF ever have any autoracks out in revenue service that looked like this?
(Not that it will determine whether they run in my world.)
Photo from my iPhone using Camera Pixels app to capture 20 images in a focus stack, then Helicon Focus to blend the in focus segments into this result.
I have about an 80 % success with this method as compared to almost 100% using Helicon's own camera program, but for an image like this I cannot get the SLR down into the scene.

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Yes they did. Check out the Santa Fe Painting and Lettering Guide by John R Signor page 74.

From memory, Walthers offered mostly ATSF bi-levels in the brown Q logo version.  Walthers came out with the red ATSF as pictured above in the mid-late 1990s and appearing to be an earlier paint scheme, I bought one and still have it.  I don't reall if Walthers ever did run the red ATSF bilevels againg after the run I bought from.

Nice scene btw!

Cheers,
Jim

Great pic and scene !

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

Amazing F16 style depth of field in your photo 

Yes they did.  There's the painting diagrm reference above and I ahve a shot on one in Omaha/Council Bluffs taken around 1980.  Got one for my alleged layout.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Beautiful setting! Love how the river, Track, Hill side & tunnel are done.
Yes this could have happened. To me the Autorack with Trailer Train on it is from the 70s/80s. In 1991 Trailer Train changed to TTX & this would be from the late 90s.
I was watching a video from the mid 2000s that had a Trailer Train rack as the first car.
Sometimes as modelers we need to remember that the air brakes don't work ether so just how prototypical are we?
I want to say that Walthers did this car as a 2 car set, 1 red & 1 brown.
The red is from the 70s, Brown from the 80s. There were some of the Red cars (open & enclosed Autoracks & (80 Ft?) Flatcars) around Barstow California for Military use around the turn of the this century.
Thanks for posting.
Tim
Hanesworth

sp8234 Wrote:
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> 
> Yes this could have happened. To me the Autorack
> with Trailer Train on it is from the 70s/80s. In
> 1991 Trailer Train changed to TTX & this would be
> from the late 90s.

That sounds correct.  Since I'm modeling caboose era (pre ~1985) I've avoided any TTX speed logo or Q logo Santa Fe

> I want to say that Walthers did this car as a 2
> car set, 1 red & 1 brown.

Kit or RTR?  My red ATSF with TT logo was a kit which came out in the old red Walther box - same bi-level kits that first came out around 1991/92.  It was a single box kit

> The red is from the 70s, Brown from the 80s. 

There was a post here that mentioned the Q logo began in the late 80's so I have avoided any Santa Fe with the Q logo.

Cheers,
Jim

Very nice scenery and photography skills!

Thank you for the kind words and prototype info.

Awesome shot! That water looks fantastic.

dt

I've seen prototype pictures of cars in this scheme dating until... gosh, maybe 1990 or so? But that's not to say there weren't a few kicking around later -- and most importantly, as you hint, it's your railroad and you should run what makes you happy. The brighter red is so much prettier (in my opinion) and more memorable than the darker -- it can't be too hard to find a justification / excuse to run one of these if that's what you want...

Here's a 1988 Mike Danneman photo with a red SF autorack first out... https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikedanneman/49914873251/

Well you could always cut the top off the car....
https://swrails.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/e-atsf-852838-topeka-1979.jpg

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

I concur with others, that is a really fantastic scene you have modeled there!

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

funnelfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well you could always cut the top off the car....
> https://swrails.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/e-atsf
> -852838-topeka-1979.jpg

Although to be fair, the one in the photo is a tri-level and the model in the OP is a bi-level.

FiestaFoamer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> -- and most importantly, as you hint,
> it's your railroad and you should run what makes
> you happy.

But if you are pulling that Auto rack with Thomas The Tank Engine cause it's your RR, expect a little ribbing here!  

> The brighter red is so much prettier
> (in my opinion) and more memorable than the darker

I agrree, which is why I had to have that red bilevel!

Cheers,
Jim

That photo should be on the cover of a magazine.

The red Santa Fe autoracks are from the late 1970's through to the 1990's. Some may have made it to the early 2000's.. Now a days I dont  even see brown Santa Fe autoracks anymore period. Been maybe two years. I do see Burlington Northern autoracks from time to time on Norfolk Southern through Pittsburgh though. I also see many Burlington Northern Santa Fe and BNSF autoracks too. Very nice layout !

SantaFeRuss



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/13/22 03:15 by SantaFeRuss.

Yes, overall great scene, scenery, river, train.  Lot's to like here!

I can see a blurr line, perhaps where photo's were stitched together in the panel (3rd from the left).

Has IOTD ever been awarded to an MR photo? With all that went into this image, I think it's worthy.

Amazing photo, long live the Santa Fe!

Posted from iPhone