Railroad Trains for the Soul: Cowl Diesels
What an unusual lash-up of the Santa Fe blue and yellow cowl diesels led by a borrowed Canadian National SD50F! The Santa Fe Railway had three different EMD cowl models: the passenger-duty FP45, the freight-only F45, and the former Amtrak SDP40F. All these types had a similar nose and windshield design that was also used on Metra's commuter rail F40C as well as the Union Pacific's gigantic double-engine DD40AX. However, the SD50F featured what is considered to be the genuine North American Safety Cab, which originated from some of the 1970's-era EMD Dash 2 diesels built for Canadian National.
Interestingly, the Santa Fe initially considered the EMD four-axle GP60 as a cowl locomotive, but it was believed to be overly heavy for a diesel with only four motors. As a result, the GP60 was chosen to be built as a standard hood unit but with a wide nose for increased safety and comfort of the crew. If this cowl idea were becoming true, EMD would have designated this hypothetical design as a "GP60F" which would probably be the only four-axle cowl unit for freight service. That would be an awesome locomotive! In reality, all examples of four-axle cowl diesels built by EMD are more suitable for passenger duty than for freight. While there have been other four-motored comfort cab diesels built for North America, the Santa Fe was the only railroad to acquire a four-axle safety cab freight locomotive powered by the EMD 710G V16 engine.
It looks weird but fun to see some of the so-called "Yellowbonnets" trailing behind a lone zebra-striped Canadian diesel!
Photo credit: Kevin Cavanaugh
