Model Railroading > F Units: Take Your Pick

The SWP is various time eras and hosts the SP, BN, Amtrak, and Santa Fe, and as the years slip a way the UP and NP.
So today as I am setting up for the 1981 BN era I brought out my Atlas FP-7 to pose with the F45s and F40PHs at the locomotive facility.
I think I need a dual headlight on that FP-7.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/24 22:46 by railstiesballast.

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Nice lineup of power!

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Nice work, thanks for posting.  Really liked the F45's with the lead engine having the low headlight, and the 6609 the high headlight, just like the prototypes.  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Nice work, very detailed scene.
Lots to see, thanks for taking the time.
t4p.

The windshield on the F7A looks very narrow?  Or is it the paint scheme giving it that look?

Your eye agrees with mine: the Atlas F units look narrow to me, especially after living with the old Globe/Athearn F units of the 50s and 60s.
Some early brass imports also had narrow (to me) windshields.
If you want accurate windshields I recommend later Athearns, Stewart, Intermountain, and Walthers.
This locomotive is a little more confusing because of the sunshades I put in the cab.

Ok, so my eyes weren't deceiving me.  Thanks.

Roco FP7 - nicely detailed.  I have one myself in SP paint.  It's a model of yesterday with just the right amount of wrong to give you that vintage feel.  Don't change a thing on it - it's perfect!

TCnR Wrote:
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> Nice work, very detailed scene.
> Lots to see, thanks for taking the time.
> t4p.
Any chance of a broader picture of the building behind the locos?

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

Thank you for your interest in the background buildings.
They are all quite simple, two are Walthers kits and the Collier Cold Storage is scratchbuilt, loosely based on a similar building on the Southern Pacific at Burbank.  Some of the building behind these are N scale flats, tucked into foliage to suggest trees.  The rest are painted on the backdrop.  Getting windows right when painting freehand across the table is quite a challange.
The names are for personal friends.  Hawkins is for Jerry H whose mother once worked at a supermarket chain so I put him back into groceries.  Collier was a high school classmate who had a couple of opportunities to run his trains on the SWP before his too-young demise.  I like the alliteration of that name.

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Thanks so much for adding these pics!

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

Yes thanks for posting pictures of the background buildings and backdrop. They look great and the weathering is really nice.

Nice photos. I love the sand from leaking sanders on the engine facing tracks. Reminds me of my visits to Bayshore back in the 70s. Great job modeling and attention to detail.

And IIRC, those Atlas FP7s were heavy and had plenty of power. Years, ago I attempted to splice the cab off a Stewart F7 shell to the front of my Atlas FP7. After I did the surgery, I realized it was all for naught, as the cabs were not the same height and width.

Victor Baird

WP921 Wrote:
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> Roco FP7 - nicely detailed.  I have one myself in
> SP paint.  It's a model of yesterday with just
> the right amount of wrong to give you that vintage
> feel.  Don't change a thing on it - it's perfect!