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Ultimate Fate of the Minnesota Zephyr F7s?

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Ultimate Fate of the Minnesota Zephyr F7s?
Posted by Great Northern Fan 54 on Monday, January 23, 2023 11:52 AM

IIRC, the two Fs are Ex SP&S (787 nee-804) and Ex CNW (788). I've been trying to find out what happened to 787 since to my knowledge that's the last surviving SP&S F-Unit. From my research, 787 was last seen being sold on Ozark while 788 is still on sale. 

 

Anyone know what happened to them?

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Posted by rdamon on Monday, January 23, 2023 3:14 PM

Here is 788 from November of 2022

 

And this looks like 787

 

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Posted by BEAUSABRE on Monday, January 23, 2023 5:29 PM

What was SP&S doing with F7's? It wasn't  allowed to have EMD's! That was only for NP and GN

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Posted by Leo_Ames on Monday, January 23, 2023 8:08 PM

lol

Judging by pre-BN pictures that I've seen, I think their F units (seven F3's and F7's, iirc) were bought for passenger service alongside their sole E unit on passenger trains.

Alco PA's would've been more in-line with their typical purchases, but they probably wanted commonality with their parent's passenger power on trains like the Empire Builder and North Coast Limited that jointly operated over SP&S rails?

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Posted by JayBee on Saturday, January 28, 2023 10:27 PM

They also owned GP9s.

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Posted by Great Northern Fan 54 on Monday, January 30, 2023 3:07 PM

According to the Inland Railroad Museum's website, they have successfully purchased 787

https://inlandnwrailmuseum.com/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnxwgOsPiSl/

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Posted by mudchicken on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 1:05 PM

Minnesota Zephyr F7A #788 has now arrived in La Junta and is the third "stuffed & mounted" locomotive in town. (Baldwin 4-6-2, Plymouth ML6 and now EMD F7A) It is going to live out its days as a rental cabin at the KOA campground west of town. It has no prime mover and will be painted in Santa Fe  warbonnet colors....  https://youtu.be/RKAPnTKGpUY   

Mudchicken Nothing is worth taking the risk of losing a life over. Come home tonight in the same condition that you left home this morning in. Safety begins with ME.... cinscocom-west
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Posted by ATSFGuy on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 4:23 PM

Were there any other F7's for Minnestoa Zephyr or just #788?

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, April 18, 2023 6:27 PM

There were two F7s on the train, and they were famous for the very long time they were cheating the reaper after their dinner train gave up and they were stranded.

I think there have been some long discussions both here and on RyPN about them, over the years...

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Posted by Great Northern Fan 54 on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 10:41 AM

mudchicken

Minnesota Zephyr F7A #788 has now arrived in La Junta and is the third "stuffed & mounted" locomotive in town. (Baldwin 4-6-2, Plymouth ML6 and now EMD F7A) It is going to live out its days as a rental cabin at the KOA campground west of town. It has no prime mover and will be painted in Santa Fe  warbonnet colors....  https://youtu.be/RKAPnTKGpUY   

 

 

That is a very interesting fate for it, beats getting scrapped but still very unusual

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Posted by NP Eddie on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 12:28 PM

The NYMBY's finally got their wish when the Minnesota Transportation Museum steam went away and then the MN Zephyr  was gone. The track is now totally gone between White Bear Lake, MN and Stillwater, MN. Some is a walking path.

 

Ed Burns

Retired Clerk NP BN BNSF from Minneapolis.

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Posted by kgbw49 on Tuesday, April 25, 2023 7:49 PM

Great Northern Fan 54

 

 
mudchicken

Minnesota Zephyr F7A #788 has now arrived in La Junta and is the third "stuffed & mounted" locomotive in town. (Baldwin 4-6-2, Plymouth ML6 and now EMD F7A) It is going to live out its days as a rental cabin at the KOA campground west of town. It has no prime mover and will be painted in Santa Fe  warbonnet colors....  https://youtu.be/RKAPnTKGpUY   

 

 

 

 

That is a very interesting fate for it, beats getting scrapped but still very unusual

 

Similar to the Great Northern F45 at Essex Montana which is now a hotel suite that you can stay in at the Isaac Walton Inn.

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Posted by SSW9389 on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 5:44 AM

Leo_Ames

lol

Judging by pre-BN pictures that I've seen, I think their F units (seven F3's and F7's, iirc) were bought for passenger service alongside their sole E unit on passenger trains.

Alco PA's would've been more in-line with their typical purchases, but they probably wanted commonality with their parent's passenger power on trains like the Empire Builder and North Coast Limited that jointly operated over SP&S rails?

 

 
All SP&S F units as built were passenger equipped with steam generators and 59:18 gearing. The F3s had 1600 pph steam equipment and the F7s had 2500 pph steam equipment. The 59:18 gearing follows Northern Pacific practice for passenger F units. Info from EMD Product Data.
 
Ed in Kentucky
Tags: SP&S F units
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Posted by wjstix on Wednesday, April 26, 2023 10:43 AM

NP Eddie
The NYMBY's finally got their wish when the Minnesota Transportation Museum steam went away and then the MN Zephyr  was gone.

...and ended up with Minnesota Transportation Museum running it's trains in Wisconsin! 

https://transportationmuseum.org/train-rides/

 

Stix

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