Were There Any Truly Ugly F Units?

[Colorado Ray]

I've enjoyed Southbound Night Train's discussion of favorite F units.  Many great responses with personal favorites taking a number of spots.

With so many handsome F units, it begs the question if there were any "ugly" ones?  While my favorite was the SP black widow, my first nominatigon for ugly is the SP bloody nose red and gray.  It's why I could never model the SP post 1958.

Ray

[maxman]

The Conrail units.  Your choice, black or blue.

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVvUEzNhX.lMAZM0nnIlQ;_ylu=X3oDMTEydWtoMWxrBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMyBHZ0aWQDQjIxNzJfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=Conrail+F7&fr=yhs-mozilla-002&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002

 

[tstage]

Ugly F-units? - No.  Ugly paint schemes?  The orange & green on the Elgin Joliet & Eastern HH660s.  Thankfully, it doesn't appear that they had any F-units.

Tom

[7j43k]

Look for ones done in a single color with the roadname done in an uninspired typeface.  Preferably without a logo.  But, if there is a logo, again: uninspired.

 

The Conrail blue is hard to beat, but here's one.  Note that the roadname on the nose isn't even horizontal:

 

Ed

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

MKT converted an A-unit to a B-unit. 

 

The result was ugly.

 

 

[hon30critter]

Garry:

Not only is the MKT conversion's paint ugly, the very act of converting the A to a B is sacrilege!!!!

I agree that there were no ugly F series locomotives, just ugly paint jobs. However, if you really want an ugly locomotive, regardless of the paint job, I nominate the FAs. The attempt to copy cat the EMD Fs was a complete failure IMHO. The FAs all look like they had been punched in the nose!

There. That ought to stimulate some discussion!!!

Be nice please!! (Ray - I hope I haven't hijacked the thread).

Dave

[gmpullman]

I agree that the shade of Conrail Blue just doesn't work on Fs or Es. Even the "Golden Spike" blue GG1 looked pretty gaudy (but not quite as bad as the Bicentennial GG1!)

My vote for one of the top "abusers" of the classic EMD nose would go to C&NW.

For example:

http://www.morscher.com/rr/1979/19790331_01.jpg

The bell and blanked out headlights are just, wierd!

And if turning an A unit into a B unit is sacrelige, so is this Crandall design...

http://www.american-rails.com/crandall-cabs.html

And, hey, as long as we're on the subject of paint jobs (although not designed as such) how's this for a not-often modeled paint scheme?

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/331015/

Bonus points if you can find a decal set for the above loco 

If E units count, this would have to be one of the prize winners:

http://www.railpictures.net/photo/321162/

Talk about a bad shade of blue...

Regards, Ed

[hon30critter]

Ed:

Very interesting locomotives!

North Western # 502 must have been in a collision. There can't be any other explanation for that truly ugly nose.

Wisconsin Central #3008 is a great example of of making due with what you have. I think that modelling it in that pre-paint shop state would be an interesting challenge. It would be a great conversation piece, although I suspect that most observers would keep their honest opinions to themselves! Buying all the various decal sets would make it a rather expensive project, but it would be a very interesting exercise in prototypical accuracy. I'm actually really tempted even thought its way too modern for my era. Does anybody have any examples of earlier diesels in the same condition?

Thanks for the fun photos!

Regards,

Dave

[jrbernier]

Dave, 

  No collision repair.  C&NW picked up ex-UP boosters on the cheap and built new cabs for them....ugly!

Jim

["JaBear"]

hon30critter

The FAs all look like they had been punched in the nose!

David, that sort of statement needs to be settled at dawn with water pistols at 50 paces.

Bear.

 

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

hon30critter

Garry:

Not only is the MKT conversion's paint ugly, the very act of converting the A to a B is sacrilege!!!!

I agree that there were no ugly F series locomotives, just ugly paint jobs. However, if you really want an ugly locomotive, regardless of the paint job, I nominate the FAs. The attempt to copy cat the EMD Fs was a complete failure IMHO. The FAs all look like they had been punched in the nose!

There. That ought to stimulate some discussion!!!

Be nice please!! (Ray - I hope I haven't hijacked the thread).

Dave

 

Dave, first off, I like ALCO FA's.......

But more importantly, the ALCO FA was not an attempt to copy anything from EMD, It was simply a shortened version of the styling of the ALCO PA, one of the most beautiful diesels ever built.

And the B&O painted their ALCO's in the same beautiful paint scheme as the EMD F units......I have several sets.......

My ATLANTIC CENTRAL has lots of EMD F units, and also lots of ALCO FA/FB units.......

Not the best picture.....

Sheldon

[BRAKIE]

I never liked C&O's black and white Zebra stripe F7s..Apprently C&O didn't either and went back to their normal Enchantment blue with yellow band.

C&O painted few Geeps and F7s in that experiential scheme in '61 or '62. IIRC less then 10 units got that scheme.

As a added foot note..Needless to say the railfan rumor mill was abuzz about how and why the Santa Fe and C&O was getting ready to merge.

[tstage]

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

the ALCO FA was not an attempt to copy anything from EMD, It was simply a shortened version of the styling of the ALCO PA, one of the most beautiful diesels ever built.

That explains a lot, Sheldon.   I'm with Dave.  I'll run FTs and F3s on my layout...but it's a nopity-no to FAs.

Tom

[rrinker]

 Alco 4 lyfe!

But I prefer the road switcher design to the cab type, so I have EMD F's and FAs, but WAY more RS-3's. Those trump any EMD design.

 Part way down the page of search results for that first link which is mainly Conrail F units is a picture of what has to be the worst model version of an F unit ever - the shape is just WAY wrong and it sticks out like a sore thumb.

                       --Randy

 

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

Tom and Dave, well to each their own.

Despite some mechanical issues early on, the ALCO FA gave EMD a run for their money at first. It was more powerful than the EMD F and served well for many roads. When EMD got their non turbo HP up into the same range as the FA, that was the beginning of the end for the FA.

Personally, I'm not automaticly attracted to curvy or aerodynamic styling on cars or trains, so I'm just fine with an FA, or my FORD FLEX - form follows function......

And the ATLANTIC CENTRAL has ALCO PA's as well.........

Sheldon

 

[caldreamer]

PLEASE, those CNW E units are so ugly and I just ate breakfast.  WHAT was C&NW thinking????

[xdford]

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

Dave, first off, I like ALCO FA's.......

But more importantly, the ALCO FA was not an attempt to copy anything from EMD, It was simply a shortened version of the styling of the ALCO PA, one of the most beautiful diesels ever built.

And the B&O painted their ALCO's in the same beautiful paint scheme as the EMD F units......I have several sets.......

My ATLANTIC CENTRAL has lots of EMD F units, and also lots of ALCO FA/FB units.......

Not the best picture.....

Sheldon

 

Hi Sheldon,  Your paint scheme actually has a prototype here in Australia, notably

https://www.flickr.com/photos/58476760@N05/6020872498

and interestingly of Alcos world designs, this unit was one of 6 single ended units, the other end of 131 units here in Australia was a flat second cab. The logistics were assessed of getting these 6 units rebuilt into B units in the early 70's which were unknown at that time here but it never happened and these locos worked

into the 1990's!

Cheers

Trevor

 PS Thanks Tom, I should not try to post late at night... sorry about that! Cheers

 

[tstage]

An off-topic FYI to ALL FORUM USERS (because I've seen this more than once on the forum lately)...

 

If you use the "Add Quote to your Post" feature: Be sure to place your comments either before the bracketed "quote user=" OR after the bracketed "/quote".  If you don't then your comment gets lost in the big, gray box that's meant to differentiate the quote from your response, like Trevor's example above.

 

Okay, back to our regularly scheduled program...

Tom

[ndbprr]

Chicago Great Western was pretty ugly. Kind of a red version of a CR paint kob

[trwroute]

Who said the MKT B unit conversion was ugly?  It was one of my most favorite projects 10 years ago...

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Chuck ..... That is an outstanding model..... It captures the ugliness very well. 

Thanks for sharing the photo with the Forum. 

 

By the way, the prototype photo has safety stripes on the front, and I wonder why the railroad did that. Obviously, the unit will not be leading the train. ... Your model makes more sense without those stripes. 

[THayman]

Colorado Ray

With so many handsome F units, it begs the question if there were any "ugly" ones?  

 

All of them?

 

*ducks for cover*

 

 

Okay okay - there were most definitely some very attractive paint schemes and I can appreciate elements of the design, but I've just never cared much for the look of F units in general. I know that's not a very popular opinion!  

But, to get back to the topic at hand: 

One definite contender would be this bizarre SOO modification - a decent scheme, but a very strange look!

[riogrande5761]

Colorado Ray

With so many handsome F units, it begs the question if there were any "ugly" ones?  While my favorite was the SP black widow, my first nominatigon for ugly is the SP bloody nose red and gray.  It's why I could never model the SP post 1958.

Ray

 

The OP has likely started at topic that will step on some toes, because one mans handsome is another mans ugly apparently.  Welcome MR forums eh?

Now you've poked the bear.  I was born post 1958 and grew up in northern California where SP bloody nose red and gray was my stomping grounds trains.  You've just called it "ugly"?  It just goes to show you one mans treasure is another mans trash.

I am a D&RGW fan also and I've heard it said that the D&RGW modified FT's were a loco only a mother could love - it had the original class lights/number board unit cut up and redone - the number boards were square edged home built things and the class lights were mounted like frog eyes.  Thats my contribution.

[dknelson]

I can't find pics to post, but I recall seeing an F unit where a bell had been hung from the nose - perhaps Aberdeen & Rockfish? -- and an F unit where the front had been modified to include footboards (because it was used in local switching) -- perhaps O&W?  Both modifications were disfiguring.

Dave Nelson

[trwroute]

Heartland Division CB&Q

Chuck ..... That is an outstanding model..... It captures the ugliness very well. 

Thanks for sharing the photo with the Forum. 

 

By the way, the prototype photo has safety stripes on the front, and I wonder why the railroad did that. Obviously, the unit will not be leading the train. ... Your model makes more sense without those stripes. 

 

 

Thanks, Garry.  When the loco was in service, it didn't have the nose stripes.  The MKT museum in Denison, TX, repainted it with the nose stripes after the UP donated the loco to them.  So, as it sits at the museum, it is in the wrong scheme.  Not sure why they did it that way.

[DAVID FORTNEY]

Ed,

I saw the Bicentennial GG1 back in 1976 when they introduced it to the public at 30th street station In Philly.  Yes I thought it Looked great and even have a few models of it.

I remember talking to a few Amtrak executives who hinted that there may be some passenger cars coming in the same scheme.  Now that would have been hideous, glad they came to their senses and did not do it. 

[GP-9_Man11786]

Do CF7s count? If so, they're the ultimate ugly F Unit. Also, I thin the FL9s ended up looking a bit to clutered up in the front with varius MU conectors and such.

[BRAKIE]

GP-9_Man11786

Do CF7s count?

Only the CF7s with the round cabs..

[P-LineSoo]

Ha! I was just going to mention the Soo "Bulldog".   She was damaged in a wreck and came out of the rebuild looking like this.

[doctorwayne]

hon30critter

The FAs all look like they had been punched in the nose!

 

David, that sort of statement needs to be settled at dawn with water pistols at 50 paces.

Bear.

 

I agree with Bear...sounds like fun.

 

I like the look of F- and E-units well enough, and have grown to feel similar about PAs, but the FAs and FPAs are, to me, the best-looking of all cab-type units.

 The Crandall cab F-units have to be the ugliest EMD-based units, worse than even the CF7s or the BL1s and -2s.  I know that the latter two aren't F-units, but they, along with the AeroTrain, deserve to be included in any conversation about ugly.
As for paint, the Black Widow scheme wasn't too bad, but a little "busy" in my opinion, while the Bloody Nose version looked, to me, better, and much better when applied to hood units.

 

tstage

If you use the "Add Quote to your Post" feature, be sure to place your comments either before the bracketed "quote user=" OR after the bracketed "/quote".  If you don't then your comment gets lost in the big, gray box that's meant to differentiate the quote from your response, like Trevor's example above.

I'm glad that you've brought that up, Tom.
Respondents should also be aware that they can edit-out extraneous portions of the quote, including photos, leaving only the portion to which their reply relates.
Also, subsequent responses quoting a previous quote can do similar editing and the quote(s) can be shortened in physical length by using the backspace key to remove unecessary spaces between lines.  
You can also, as I am doing here, quote from more than one previous poster in your response, simply by opening the topic in a separate tab:  pick the response that you wish to use, click "Add Quote to your Post", clean it up as outlined above, then "Copy" and "Paste" it into you original composition window and add your comments regarding it.

Wayne