I thought by '89 ATSF got rid of the kodachrome paint on their locomotives as this was a few years after the failed merger was denied. Yet they looked cleaner than their SP counterparts, tunnels are rough on locos.
SP still had a few Kodachromes in service as late as 1996, I don't think any made it into service with UP, but they did have at least one or two by the time of the merger. ATSF might have been a different story though, throughout the 90s Santa Fe was going through a major upgrade process, while SP was happy to use their old EMD units as long as possible, Santa Fe was very keen on modernizing it's fleet, in the 90s they were buying all the latest engines from EMD and GE, starting with the GP60s and Dash 8s in '91 and ending with the SD75s in '95/'96. While I think 1989 is a bit early for them to be totally gone, it probably wasn't long after that all the "SPSF" units were either repainted or replaced, at least on ATSF, again, SP weren't usually ones to worry about painting or replacing their units until absolutely necessary.
Something to bare in mind as well is that by 1989 the SP was in financial trouble opting to run out older units to try to get the most life they could out of them at that point in time verses investing money they didn’t have into newer units like the ATSF did. Also in 1989 the SP was in the process of successfully being bought out by the Rio Grande which for all intents and purposes owned the SP to the end. So by this date SP quite frankly didn’t have the money to spend on newer units like the ATSF and with the merger going on they had more important things to worry about. Hence why in the early/mid 90’s when the economy began to turn around as well as after the merger was long over with the Rio Grande (along with investors) backed SP in buying very large numbers of newer units. The Kodachrome units simply were holdout’s from tough times of a decade before.
Boy do I miss those days were their were more than just wid cabs on the rails. Thanks for the sharing.
I like both standard and wide cabs
WOW! GE 7s and 8s, SD45-2Bs, and Mr. Clyde Patterson working the dispatcher board. Great footage! Thanks for posting. God bless!
I'd have loved to see the Mojave in the late 80s and early 90s.
SP Tunnel Motors > UP GEVOs
Just like the golden days...☺
Still plenty of V-20 power back then, the majority of ATSF and SP power is SD45, SD45B and SD45-2(U).
Excellent video.
Great video!
Awesome!!
All the way with Sante Fe !!!
I thought by '89 ATSF got rid of the kodachrome paint on their locomotives as this was a few years after the failed merger was denied. Yet they looked cleaner than their SP counterparts, tunnels are rough on locos.
SP still had a few Kodachromes in service as late as 1996, I don't think any made it into service with UP, but they did have at least one or two by the time of the merger.
ATSF might have been a different story though, throughout the 90s Santa Fe was going through a major upgrade process, while SP was happy to use their old EMD units as long as possible, Santa Fe was very keen on modernizing it's fleet, in the 90s they were buying all the latest engines from EMD and GE, starting with the GP60s and Dash 8s in '91 and ending with the SD75s in '95/'96.
While I think 1989 is a bit early for them to be totally gone, it probably wasn't long after that all the "SPSF" units were either repainted or replaced, at least on ATSF, again, SP weren't usually ones to worry about painting or replacing their units until absolutely necessary.
Something to bare in mind as well is that by 1989 the SP was in financial trouble opting to run out older units to try to get the most life they could out of them at that point in time verses investing money they didn’t have into newer units like the ATSF did. Also in 1989 the SP was in the process of successfully being bought out by the Rio Grande which for all intents and purposes owned the SP to the end. So by this date SP quite frankly didn’t have the money to spend on newer units like the ATSF and with the merger going on they had more important things to worry about. Hence why in the early/mid 90’s when the economy began to turn around as well as after the merger was long over with the Rio Grande (along with investors) backed SP in buying very large numbers of newer units. The Kodachrome units simply were holdout’s from tough times of a decade before.
Cool
What does ATSF stand for
+Eric (ericondefense) Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe
+Eric (ericondefense) Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
Cinluvsart ok thank u. Check out my train videos and subscribe to my channel for more videos
I like CAJON food......ha
Is anyone here from Thunderbolt 1000 Siren Productions video
1989 Cajon Pass Runaway
No. It's all my footage.
He means did anyone else find this video because of that one.