Remember too that the F units having no delicate handrails and other details make them ideal for train sets since they are less fragile.
Joe Staten Island West
F7s (or any f unit) are so common because they are so easy and cheap to make. One piece shell, a clear healight lens, 2 horns and thats it! Everything else is molded on. While other diesel engines have not only the horns and lens, but also handrails, which are much harder to create.
Another aspect is that the f unit has so much more space inside to accommodate any type of mechanism. While other diesels like geeps are much thinner, making the interior a little harder to design.
Charles
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Modeling the PRR & NYC in HO
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riogrande5761......Aussies........
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
SouthPenn The Warbonnet paint scheme is the most recognized locomotive paint scheme in the world.
I would really like to see this study.
I have been a lot of places on the planet and saying that people in Asia, Europe, Africa or the South Pacific would know anything about "The Warbonnet" paint scheme would surprise me. Of course there are alway exceptions, however, like us they tend to model what they see close to home and are familiar with. How many paint schemes on trains from the above regions would you recognize?
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Maybe not recognize it under the name "Warbonnet" but show a picture of a red and silver of blue and yellow SF F unit with the road name mossing and I'll bet a lot of people can recognize it, even if they can;t name it or the railroad.
Look at some Aussie locos build under license from EMD - they have very similar paint schemes to the ones used by EMD. At least in their as-delivered schemes.
Such as these:
(ok that one is only a model) (ssshhhh...)
'modern' classic scheme:
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I remember my first train set from when I was a kid in the early 1970's. Good ole' Tyco stuff that we were thrilled with then, but would likely sneer at today. Yes, there were a load of F units produced then and now...and for good reason I think. A great prototype in terms of design that represents the era. The loco was elegant, yet powerful. A friend of mine, a truck driver, said the F units just had a look, "like they are GOING somewhere".
Bryan B.
fieryturbo Why is that particular locomotive/paint so done-to-death?
Why is that particular locomotive/paint so done-to-death?
I asked myself that same question on my mid-1960s HO jr-sr high layout -- Especially since the Pennsy had a 4-track mainline running in Western Pennsylvania's "high mountain rail" thru the Conemaugh Valley with tuscan brown F7/F8 units. How come the Santa Fe war bonnets were a couple thousand miles away out west -- except in the local hobby stores? (with PRR tuscan brown hard to find).
Ulrich The nice colors sell... otherwise you'd see the market spammed with Clinchfield black F units.
The nice colors sell... otherwise you'd see the market spammed with Clinchfield black F units.
Why settle for Clinchfield black diesels when you can settle for Norfolk Southern all-black diesel power on the (now) 3-track mainline running thru the Conemaugh Valley?
Conemaugh Road & Traction circa 1956
I think the War Bonnet design turned into something like a signature brand of American railroads. In 1963, the year I got my first train set, Marklin had only very few "foreign" locos included in their range of products´, two of them were F7´s and naturally, one of them was Santa Fe´s War Bonnet F 7!
Here is a link to the catalog - just scroll down a bit to see it.
steemtrayn When Lionel first made their F units, they made a deal with Santa Fe... You pay for the tooling, and we'll put your brand in every home in America (or something like that. A New York Central version was made for Eastern customers.
When Lionel first made their F units, they made a deal with Santa Fe... You pay for the tooling, and we'll put your brand in every home in America (or something like that. A New York Central version was made for Eastern customers.
It was all marketing for the real Santa Fe Railroad, and it worked! When I was a little kid the only locomotives I saw up close where Santa Fe passenger trains in warbonnet livery. We used to ride the train from Chicago to Los Angeles. So naturally when I was older and started getting into electric trains I had to have warbonnet locos. My first trainset was the Lionel Dockside Switcher set. It came with a 0-4-0 steam engine. I wanted diesel! So my mom took me to a hobby store and I looked at diesels they had in boxes on the shelf and I almost settled for a some other road name and a matching dummy B unit, but I really wasn't happy. Then the guy said he had a pair of Santa Fe locos in the War Bonnet livery which another customer didn't want and they were removed from a set. I got those two locos, one powered and one dummy. I loved them so much.
When I moved into HO the first thing I did was buy a Tyco freight train set with a F7 in warbonnet livery. I didn't care. I just loved the paint scheme. Later when the real Santa Fe had wide cab GE locos in the war bonnet livery I was so happy.
Love those war bonnets!
F units are easy to mold, cheap to make, and the SF colors were very popular. Kids like their bright colors. It is an iconic flag.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
SP&S modeler, 1960's give or take a decade or two for some equipment.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SGTDUPREY?feature=guide
Gary DuPrey
N scale model railroader
mlehman Pomme frites! YUM! Chips!!!! Very nice with tomato sauce, or a splash of malt vinegar and a sprinkle of salt to taste.
mlehman Pomme frites! YUM!
Mmmm...malt vinegar.
One of my favorite beverages.
It's making my mouth water as I type.
T e d
Love the Warbonnet style. Red, Yellow and Blue - I have them all.
Ummm, one can never have too many warbonnets! It is the most popular scheme in the model world, and the prototype world. Santa Fe - All the Way !!!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
"It's fun to ride the train today When the train you ride is Santa Fe Santa Fe, all the way! It's fun to ride the train! Santa Fe"
Matt from Anaheim, CA and Bayfield, COClick Here for my model train photo website
BATMAN SouthPenn The Warbonnet paint scheme is the most recognized locomotive paint scheme in the world. I would really like to see this study. I have been a lot of places on the planet and saying that people in Asia, Europe, Africa or the South Pacific would know anything about "The Warbonnet" paint scheme would surprise me. Of course there are alway exceptions, however, like us they tend to model what they see close to home and are familiar with. How many paint schemes on trains from the above regions would you recognize?
OK, I grew up in Australia. The first book on Railways I was given had a two page reproduction of a painting illustrating a three unit Santa Fe PA/PB set on the Super Chief. I've subsequently discovered that this was based on a special photographic run with a set of empty Chief cars in Cajon Pass using 51L/A/B when new. My parents were familiar with the railway name from the Judy Garland movie "Harvey Girls", from the intial (20 minute) production number. In fact, since the books we read were published in the USA or Britain, we knew more about those railways than our own. Things changed from the mid 1960s regarding local prototypes, but local models only appeared in the 1970s.
M636C
leighant...Then Santa Fe fooled me by going back to the Warbonnet for their real-like Super Power diesels.
I'll never forget when I first saw the revised warbonnet
On a trip on Amtrak's Desert Wind while going through San Bernardino I couldn't believe seeing two warbonnet painted locos in the yard. I was around 9 years old at the time and only knew that this looked weird since every Santa Fe loco was blue and yellow...well except for the short lived Kodachrome locos that I used to call Ketchup and Mustard.
Of course years later I found out these two were some of the first FP45's to get the revised Super Fleet paint and were posed for company photos. That's pretty cool to see while on the train.
Southwest Chief "It's fun to ride the train today When the train you ride is Santa Fe Santa Fe, all the way! It's fun to ride the train! Santa Fe"
Now this brings back some memories.
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
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Barry - thanks for sharing this video with us!
Now compare traveling in the Super Chief with a flight on board a crammed 747, preceded by rather pain- and disgraceful security checks ...
Like others, I just love the paint scheme. It reminds me of the Sears Christmas catalogs I used to pour over as a kid. I think there was one set every year with it.
Enjoy
Paul