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LawrenceKellie (222 posts)
Jul-25-01, 12:36 PM (EST) "FA7 question" From a baby rail enthusiast.....Was the FA7 used for freight? It has such a streamlined look, that it looks like it would be "reserved" for passenger use only.ThanksLawrence Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
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Subject Author Message Date ID RE: FA7 question EMDMac70 Jul-25-01 1 RE: FA7 question LawrenceKellie Jul-25-01 2 RE: FA7 question kmcquarters Jul-27-01 3 RE: FA7 question jkcooney Aug-08-01 22 RE: FA7 question lightbg Jul-27-01 4 RE: FA7 question chucksc Jul-28-01 5 RE: FA7 question jkcooney Aug-24-01 25 RE: FA7 question krola Jul-28-01 6 RE: FA7 question sniper297 Jul-31-01 7 RE: FA7 question SoRwy471 Jul-31-01 8 RE: FA7 question milwaukeefan Aug-01-01 9 RE: FA7 question SHEPLEY1935 Aug-04-01 13 RE: FA7 question outerbanks117 Aug-01-01 10 RE: FA7 question milwaukeefan Aug-01-01 11 RE: FA7 question cjmaclean Aug-04-01 12 RE: FA7 question milwaukeefan Aug-04-01 14 RE: FA7 question ATSF Aug-04-01 15 RE: FA7 question milwaukeefan Aug-05-01 16 RE: FA7 question plainsman Aug-06-01 17 RE: FA7 question TrainFreak Aug-06-01 18 RE: FA7 question ATSF Aug-07-01 19 RE: FA7 question michigandon Aug-07-01 20 RE: FA7 question Hoppy504 Aug-08-01 21 RE: FA7 question Matt Vince Aug-24-01 23 RE: FA7 question milwaukeefan Aug-24-01 24

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EMDMac70 (32 posts)
Jul-25-01, 02:10 PM (EST) 1. "RE: FA7 question" It sure was. My father used to take us for rides on trips with him and they would take us in the engine room because it was inside of the body of this locomotive. When the engine was running it was loud in there with it. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
LawrenceKellie (222 posts)
Jul-25-01, 03:19 PM (EST) 2. "RE: FA7 question" Thanks.It is interesting to note how many people who read/write in these forums actually have railroading "in their blood." Of course, that certainly does give some great perspectives on the subject.Lawrence Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
kmcquarters (5 posts)
Jul-27-01, 11:04 AM (EST) 3. "RE: FA7 question" Sure did.The ATSF was one of the largest owners of "freight" F7's. They were painted in a subdued Santa Fe Blue with yellow nose and body stripe. The Burlington Northern also used them in their latter years. I'll see if I can scrape up a photo or two. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
jkcooney (408 posts)
Aug-08-01, 12:25 PM (EST) 22. "RE: FA7 question" the Santa Fe "bluebonnet" is available for download (I think its on Aluminum Cloud and Train-Sim. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
lightbg (99 posts)
Jul-27-01, 10:24 PM (EST) 4. "RE: FA7 question" Let's see if I can help:

That should have been passenger.

That would be freight.
Same body style, but passenger engines rode on 6 wheel trucks ( with only the outer axles powered { A-1-A}, and generally had 2 prime movers aboard), whereas freight units were 4 axles and had a single prime mover, which allowed multiple unit lashups. Maybe the E's and F's from EMD weren't as beautiful as Alco's PA's and FA's, but they moved more freight and ran better. Jake. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
chucksc (178 posts)
Jul-28-01, 12:24 PM (EST) 5. "RE: FA7 question" Actually the 4 axle(B+B) "F" series was usable on both passenger and freight... the variant most often used on passenger was the "FP" which was a "F" with the addition of a steam generator... There was also an "FL" used by the New Haven which had 3rd rail shoes fitted on a unique truck arraingement (B+A1A) so it could be used in Downtown NYC "electrified territory" and the Diesel shutdown for noise and pollution...
The 6 axle (A1A+A1A) were the "E" series. This was exclusively used for High Speed Passenger Service. It had Higher Gearing, was physically longer and heavier, more fuel capacity and two(2) diesel engines for higher horsepower. The A1A truck was supposed to distribute the greater weight better and provide better tracking and ride at high speed thus minimizing stress to the Rail Structure (and the Engineer).... Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
jkcooney (408 posts)
Aug-24-01, 08:46 PM (EST) 25. "RE: FA7 question" I agree with your Alco comment. The Erie and later the Erie Lackawanna used them extensively in southern NY State where I come from and boy did they smoke up a storm with diesel exhaust. Very heavy commuter passenger usage in the area of my hometown from Port Jervis, NY to Jersey City (later Hoboken). TRAINZ is including a freight Alco in their first CD release and even though its the MLW version (Montreal Loco Works) the models are virtually identical to those used in the states. Can't wait. Hope they include the accurate sounds of those gurgling beasts!
Joe Cooney, Ocala, FL Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
krola (23 posts)
Jul-28-01, 11:06 PM (EST) 6. "RE: FA7 question" LAST EDITED ON Jul-28-01 AT 11:07 PM (EST)The F in F7A stands for "freight". The customer could in fact order different gearing between the traction motors and axles for the locomotives and that was a primary factor in determining top speed and whether or not the unit would be used for freight or passenger service. The "E" units (most notable and numerous were the E-7's and E-8/9 variations (horsepower was the difference). The very first successful widely used diesel locomotive was the EMD "FT" sold to many railroads in the 30's as a 4500 HP set of 4 locomotives permantently interconnected by drawbars with a cab unit at either end. All of these "streamlined" units (including those manufactured by Alco, Baldwin, et al.) are often refered to as "Covered Wagons" because of their totally enclosed nature, versus the later "Geeps" or General Purpose locomotives which performed their multiple roles as road switcher, freight unit, passenger unit, etc. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
sniper297 (257 posts)
Jul-31-01, 03:20 PM (EST) 7. "RE: FA7 question" I have lived next to the C&NW Glena line most of my life (48 years) and my observation is that roads don't run out and buy new equipment and send the old stuff to the scrapyard. When I was little the passenger express trains (OMAHA 400,
KATE SHELLY 400, etc.) were pulled by the newest engines, the push-pull doubledeckers by older equipment, and the freights by older still, including some steam engines back in the 50's. I even saw a short "shuttle" freight going back and forth between proviso and the 40th st. yards for about a year (1960, I think) pulled by a 4-6-2 Pacific with the streamlined boiler housing and the 400 express livery. Yesterday's varnish is tomorrows's workhorse. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
SoRwy471 (204 posts)
Jul-31-01, 04:03 PM (EST) 8. "RE: FA7 question" I will not doubt others--but I saw most F-7's in passenger service. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
milwaukeefan (200 posts)
Aug-01-01, 01:30 PM (EST) 9. "RE: FA7 question" F7s were used in both passenger and frieght, and alot of railroads used them for both ( Santa Fe ) FP7s were a variant designed specifically for passenger and had a longer frame making them easy to recognize. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
SHEPLEY1935 (32 posts)
Aug-04-01, 10:02 AM (EST) 13. "RE: FA7 question" ALL FTA (555) and FTB (541) units were equipped with the EMD 567/567A engines and were rated at 1350 horse power per unit.
Production ran from 11/39 thru 11/45. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
outerbanks117 (8 posts)
Aug-01-01, 04:20 PM (EST) 10. "RE: FA7 question" I grew up in Santa Fe Country - It was NOT uncommon to see the BLUE AND YELLOW F7A and B units tumbling along with a string of clackity freight cars. We used to sit by the siding and watch these beautiful BLUE WARBONNETS rumble by. Santa Fe seemed to restrict the use of the RED AND YELLOW F7's for passenger service.Have a GREAT day
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milwaukeefan (200 posts)
Aug-01-01, 10:30 PM (EST) 11. "RE: FA7 question" What do you mean it was not uncommon? In the 50s all you would see is blue and Yellow F3s and F7s on frieght trains! Santa Fe had the most of any railroad Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
cjmaclean (194 posts)
Aug-04-01, 06:09 AM (EST) 12. "RE: FA7 question" Can anybody tell me for what max speed the Amtrak passenger F-7s were geared? I would like to be able to modify the .eng file to the correct value.
D.M. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
milwaukeefan (200 posts)
Aug-04-01, 11:30 AM (EST) 14. "RE: FA7 question" The key would be to find what they were gearded for on th railroads they came from, and according to a 1973 roster, the closest I could find to the April 1971 start-up, they only have F Units from SP and BN. and in total they only have about 20 so they were relying alot on the E units and the horrible SDP40Fs Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
ATSF (85 posts)
Aug-04-01, 12:34 PM (EST) 15. "RE: FA7 question" On the Santa Fe Passenger F7s were allowed to run 79 MPH -Freight F7s were allowed to run 60 MPH. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
milwaukeefan (200 posts)
Aug-05-01, 10:47 AM (EST) 16. "RE: FA7 question" Yeah but Amtrak never had any ex- SF F's. But I would guess that SP and GN F's were geared for 80mph. On the GN there arent many place where you could go over that, so Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
plainsman (114 posts)
Aug-06-01, 07:21 AM (EST) 17. "RE: FA7 question" LAST EDITED ON Aug-06-01 AT 07:23 AM (EST)I think the Burlington side of BN might have been more like 84-85 mph? I think the Burlington from Lincoln, NE to the Colorado border was the fastest scheduled diesel passenger route of that length, in the country? That may have all been with E units?
Bob Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
TrainFreak (56 posts)
Aug-06-01, 09:53 AM (EST) 18. "RE: FA7 question" What's the fastest scheduled diesel passenger route in the US today? Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
ATSF (85 posts)
Aug-07-01, 00:40 AM (EST) 19. "RE: FA7 question" I thought the 79 MPH limit for Passesenger trains was an ICC rule (in the 50s and 60s). I could be mistaken. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
michigandon (47 posts)
Aug-07-01, 06:49 AM (EST) 20. "RE: FA7 question" Sections of the former ATSF mainline across Arizona and New Mexico are equipped with Automatic Train Stop (ATS), which allows Amtrak to travel at 90MPH. Theres also a stretch east of Dowagiac Michigan that is now setup for cab signals that allows (experimental) 100MPH running. Don Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Hoppy504 (20 posts)
Aug-08-01, 06:33 AM (EST) 21. "RE: FA7 question" EMD Classes,F = Freight
SW = Switcher
GP = General Purpose
SD = Special DutiesI believe these were the original groupings.For anyone interested the magazine TRAINS is a good read with great photographs.Hoppy504. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Matt Vince (15 posts)
Aug-24-01, 04:26 PM (EST) 23. "RE: FA7 question" Do you mean F7A or FA-1? The EMD F-Units were, according to my research, used on both types of work, dependant on their type. Bog standard F-units were mainly used on freight work, although lines like Erie Lackawanna used them on the Phoebe Snow, and the Santa Fe used them on all of their passenger trains, and freights. The FP-s were dedicated passenger locos and FL-9s (Dual supply) have only ever been used on passenger trains by the NYC, New Haven, and their modern day counterparts Amtrak and Metro North.E-Units were passenger only, and were the streamlined EMD cab units.The FA-1 was the ALCo (American Locomotive Company) freight dedicated equivalent to the EMD F-Unit, the PA-1 being its passenger equivalent. Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
milwaukeefan (200 posts)
Aug-24-01, 05:40 PM (EST) 24. "RE: FA7 question" pppppppst* Has anyone told you that the question was answered abouot a month ago? Remove | Alert Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

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