A pair of Santa Fe Railway’s finest, a bit battered and bruised after repeatedly operating for thousands of miles at a time, poke their noses out of the shops in San Bernardino. Built in June 1973, ATSF SD45-2 5704 was the last unit of the second, and largest, order of SD45-2s. It was also the fifth of the railway’s five Bicentennial locomotives, and the colorful paint is looking a bit haggard in the 1978 view. It’s stablemate, over on track 7, is FP45 5942. This locomotive was constructed in December 1967 as ATSF 102, one of nine FP45s intended to supplement the railway’s aging fleet of passenger F-units, and allowed the last of the PA-1s and PB-1s to be retired. After the Santa Fe handed over passenger operations to Amtrak in May 1971, their FP45s were repainted from the red and silver "Warbonnet" scheme into freight colors and moved to the freight pool in 1973, following the arrival of Amtrak’s new SDP40Fs. ATSF 5942 was just over ten years old in this photo.
Santa Fe first constructed their locomotive shop in San Bernardino in 1886, and the complex underwent a number of changes throughout the years as railroad technology changed, and this shop was able to perform remanufacturing and heavy repairs for much of the railway, from New Mexico to San Diego and the Bay Area. Eventually, this work was transferred to shops further east, primarily in Kansas, and this impressive complex was razed in 1996. (San Bernardino, California – May 1978). Unknown Photographer, Craig Walker Collection
Displays of American pride, and spirit! Equipment painted Red, White, and Blue! With an honored salute and tribute to our veterans and troops added too! Patriots can still be found to join this gathering of Patriotic Pride!
