| The only railroad that used the "Warbonnet" paint scheme was the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad (now Burlington Northern Santa Fe), introducing the scheme on their E1A passenger diesels in 1937 and discontinuing it after the company's merger with the Burlington Northern in 1996, although some stayed in the scheme after being relettered "BNSF." The F-Unit series of freight diesels, like the E1As, were built by EMD from 1939-1960, and the Santa Fe were the first buyers in 1941, continuing to be regular customers for them until the mid-1950s. #347C is the ultimate classic variant of F-Unit, the F7A Phase I, and in this case is equipped for passenger service with 102 m.p.h. gearing and a steam generator (or at least it would have had these things originally). I don't remember the date #347C was built, but it certainly would have been around 1949, as that was when the F7A was introduced, and that's when the Phase Is were, of course, being built. As a photo, this shot is a bit overexposed, as I didn't have exposure controls on the camera, but the colors are at least brilliant. I think this shot has more appeal to railfans than anyone else. |