1981 Santa Fe Manifest Freight led by B36-7 7498

General Electric B36-7 7498, was  the updated version of the U36B.  This 16 cylinder, 3600 h.p. unit was part of a delivery of 16 units in October and November of 1980, numbered 7484 to 7499. Santa Fe was the first railroad to acquire production B36-7's.  The U in U36B stands for Universal Locomotive.




Electro Motive Division SD40 5002.  This is part of an order of 20 delivered in 1966.  The SD40's were rebuilt in the late 70's and brought up as close as possible  to the SD40-2 standards, primarily in the electrical components area.  Of course, these locos received air conditioning, "can" antennae, raised air horns, and a rotating beacon.  They also had their footboards removed from the pilot, and replaced with snow plows.  All received the Yellow Warbonnet paint scheme.



Two more B36-7's which are mildly weathered due to their recent acquisition.  Remember, it is June 1981 on the Needles Division. Why B36-7?  The B means a 4 wheel truck, 36 stands for 3600 h.p., and the 7 means this unit was first designed in the 1970's.

Custom painted 50' Shock Control car, and double plug sliding door Shock Control car, part of the Western Roads five pack.

UP 60 ft. double door box, which is a recent Atlas car, with the multi colored "automated rail way" logo on white a background.  Mildly weathered, but I should weather it heavier due to its longevity on the rails. 

Two Micro Trains 60' Bulkhead flat cars, carrying a load of crated machinery products.  (Or something or other!)

Nicely weathered 50' box, manufactured by Roundhouse Models in the 80's. Note weathered wheels and trucks.

Couple  of 36' covered hoppers, mildly weathered. 

Custom painted Great Northern 50' plug door boxcar.  These are called "plug door" because when opened, they swing out, and upon closing, sit flush with the interior sides.  I painted and decaled this car with custom made decals prior to the release of this car from Atlas in the above paint scheme.  The silver door represents an unpainted aluminum door.  Mildly weathered.

Love Frisco yellow cars, as they are easy to weather and look great!

Two mildly weathered UP cars.



Two near bankrupt railroads, New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad, merged to create Penn Central, a massive railroad system doomed to failure, and of course, bankruptcy.  By the time Conrail was created from these two and others, (Federal Government bailout!), their motive power and freight cars, as well as the entire infrastructure, were a complete mess.  This 50' NYC plug door box truly represents the state of Conrail rolling stock at the time.

Two different paint schemes on the same 55' covered hopper, in order of their appearance on the system.  Both models have Gold Medal Models (GMM) etched brass roofwalks.



I have several of these 50' D&RWG cars on the Needles Division.  Fortunately, they came in more than one number.  I just think the paint scheme is very cool looking and they also weather easily.



Heavily weathered BN, 55 foot covered hopped, This is an old Atlas car updated with (GMM) walkways. 

Shell covered hopper, again old Atlas car updated with (GMM) walkways.  (Oops, just noticed these hoppers need their black and white Consolidated Stencil Panels.  These panels contain car maintenance records.  I will take care of that!)

This might just be a Soo Line plug box, ya think?  Note DF logo (Damage Free), yet with non roller bearing Bettendorf trucks!



DuPont covered hopper, heavily weathered, again, an old Atlas car updated with GMM walkways.  I worked in sales for a DuPont division out of New England for some 20 years.  It is truly one of the great American companies, and one of the oldest, dating back to the Revolutionary War.   

A great little 50' boxcar from MRC Corp., one of the first I purchased, and one of my favorites on the Needles Division.  I removed the roof walk, and then removed the paint, and custom painted and decaled this car.  One of the first I did.  Long time ago.  Yellow weathers easily!  A Ce-8 wide vision caboose brings up the rear of the train.  This beautiful  caboose is from Atlas.

A video of this train is posted on YouTube at:

                                                    http://youtu.be/F3mEZhydPP8