Milwaukee Road FP7 yellow/grey Cities scheme

[ETR_500]

Hello US railfans.

I know that, at the end of 1955, Union Pacific began using Milwaukee Road's trackage to reach Chicago. Consequently, Milwaukee Road had to repaint its passenger cars to be used in the Cities trains.

Well, I'd like to know something about this new yellow and grey livery application on FP7 locomotives: when did the first FP7 receive this new paint scheme? At the end of the 1950's or well into the 1960's?

Moreover, did Milwaukee FP7s ever handle UP/Milw Cities trains?

Thanks a lot for your helping.

[jrbernier]

  The Milwaukee Road 'forwarded' the UP passenter train to Chicago after the 1955 switch from C&NW forwarding the trains.  For this new assignment, the Milwaukee purchased 6 ABA sets of E9's, set up and painted to match the UP engines.  The Milwaukee also converted a number of Hiawatha 52 seat coaches to 40 seat coaches and some head-end cars were repainted in the UP 'Cities' scheme as were the coaches.  For a while it appears that Milw engines worked west of Omaha, and UP engines work east of Omaha to Chicago.

  At some point, the Milwaukee decided to repaint their entire fleet of passenger engines/cars into the 'Cities' paint scheme.  A lot of head-end cars never did get repainted, and I remember FP7A/F7B passenger engines still in orange/maroon in the late 60's.  Eventually the Milw E9's started turning back at Omaha, and were released for service on other lines.  I have no pictures of a FP7A  in Cities service, but since the Milw freely mixed passenger power on the Twin Cities line, they may have done something similar on the Iowa Division.

Jim

[Montrealer]

I've seen several pictures of the Olympian Hiawatha in it's last couple of years of operation (1959-61) when it ran with diesels over its entire route.  The power seemed to always include an FP-7 and and E-9, with either an F7B or E9B in between, and all wore the Armour yellow and gray scheme.

 

Dave

[mrJ]

Hi Jim,

I would also like to find out the conisists/fomation of the Milwaukee /UP passenger (City) trains at the time.

Do they mix the carriages (UP/Milwaukee) on the same passenger set or they just run their entire own stock and did not mix any. Did their Diesels crossed their 'Territories' or the change-over took place at the border?

Do you know if I can see any photos on line?

Thanks & have a nice day

James

 

 

[Stourbridge Lion]

James - Welcome to trains.com!

[daveklepper]

During the last years of operation, the train during periods of normal and light traffic was run as one Cities of Everywhere train, with cars from St, Louis and Kansas City added and cars for Denver, Portland, LA, and Oakland, switched out at appropriate locations.  At this point the Milwaukee and UP cars of all types were in a general pool, with the SP-owned Armor-yellow cars part of the mix, except that there was an attempt to keep them in SF service and not LA or Portland or Denver, and an attmept to keep the few Wabash-owned cars in St. Louis service.

 

Even when separate trains were run, I do not believe there was any attmept to keep an all Milwaukee or all UP consist, nor this situation exist when the C&NW was the Chicago connection.

A very similar arangement occured with NP and CB&Q slumbercoaches, with an NP car likely to be seen in Colorado Springs off the CB&Q Denver Zephyr (D&RGW-AT&SF connecting train) or on the overnight Chicago - Twin Cities Blackhawk. 

[Steve McDonough]

When the three-unit sets were delieved between June 1950 and Sept.1953 they came in orange

with maroon sides.By 1956 ALL were repainted in UP colors except sets 90A-B-C thru 94A-B-C.

By very early 1960s  the 90 thru 94 sets  were regeared for freight service and renumbered to

60A-B-C to 64A-B-C.They stayed in the freight paint scheme which was later simplified to

just orange and black.During the early 1960s 96AandC,97AandC,and105AandC lost steam

generators to Cummings electric generators for use with Chicago commuter trains.When

people say they saw orange and maroon FP7s in freight service they are correct.In 1969

before Amtrak it was possible to see  a FP7 in UP colors in freight trains with orange/maroon/black

and orange and black F units.See Milwaukee Road Locomotives Vol1 by Thomas Strauss

for more on the FP7 engines!!!

[Los Angeles Rams Guy]

I did see a picture of an FP45/FP7 duo leading the combined westbound City of Portland/City of Denver coming off the Mississippi River bridge at Sabula, Iowa.  Wish I still had it.