| These diesels, to the uninitiated, were idolized in movies, on TV, and in countless model trainsets, and still are today. It might be the most-modelled diesel of all time. The only railroad that used the "Warbonnet" paint scheme was the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe (ATSF) Railroad (now Burlington Northern Santa Fe, or BNSF), introducing the scheme on their E1A passenger diesels in 1937. 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. |