Eric's Trains - Lionel's Black Bonnet 2-10-4 Steam Locomotive

We do know that there was never any real steam locomotive painted in the Santa Fe Railway’s “Warbonnet” scheme. However, when Lionel introduced the O gauge F3 in its 1948 catalog, one of the options was a Santa Fe version colored in the unrealistic black body combined with the accurate red cab up front. This particular variation was never actually made, but Lionel did the right thing by painting the Santa Fe F3 in the correct silver body in place of black. Since then, hobbyists call the unusual black-and-red scheme the “Black Bonnet” and Lionel, along with MTH and K-Line, have indeed made a lot of trains in that livery, some of which are custom runs exclusive to select dealers. Here’s a look at an O scale 2-10-4 Texas steam locomotive reviewed by Eric Siegel. This gives you an idea that the Black Bonnet scheme is not confined to diesels or freight cars. After all, most steamers were painted black or at least some kind of somber color like gray.