Information Regarding F-unit Paint Schemes

March 19, 2013
The 5 F's that wore the DOT blue and yellow which matched the ex-UP passenger cars were:

FP7's 1512 and 1514

F7B's 1517 (ex DRGW) and 1509 (ex GN); both equipped with steam generators.

F7A 1530 (ex DRGW)

There were 12 F's delivered in the original blue and yellow:

F7A's 1500, 1502, 1504 - large fuel tanks; 1506 and 1508 - regular fuel tanks

F7B's 1501, 1503, 1505 with large fuel tanks; and 1507 - regular fuel tank. 1505

FP7's 1510, 1512, 1514

These were the 12 F's bought new by the ARR.

Jason Kuehn

March 20, 2013
I don't know many details prior to about 1973. But I will take my best go at it. Perhaps others can fill in more details.

I don't know when the as delivered blue and yellow gave way to black and yellow. The first locomotive delivered new in black and yellow was GP30 2000 in 1964. But the ex-Army GP7's only wore black and yellow and I am not sure when they arrived.

I would guess the original 12 F's started getting black and yellow in the early 1960's and all 12 wore those colors into the early 1970's.

The 1512, 1514, 1509, and 1517 were repainted in the DOT passenger blue and yellow to match the ex-UP passenger cars. Those were probably put in service in 1972 as the ARR bought them after Amtrak passed them over because they weren't stainless steel. Auto Train also bought a bunch.

The 1509 may have worn black and yellow briefly before getting repainted in passenger colors.

The six ex-GN F's (2nd 1501, 1509, 1511, 1515, 1516, 1518) arrived in 1969, but I don't know when each received black and yellow paint. They were all retired in the mid-1970's in black and yellow and traded in for GP40-2's 3001-3015.

The twelve ex-DRGW F's (1517, 1519, 1521, 1523, 1525, 1520, 1522, 1524, 1526, 1528, 1530, 1532) arrived in 1970. They seemed to take longer to get painted. Somewhere I have a picture of a 'B' unit still in Rio Grande silver, black, and gold on a wreck train in 1973. The 1530 was painted in DOT passenger blue and yellow in 1976. I think it was never painted in black and yellow. My recollection is that unit threw a rod through the engine block or something major like that and was completely rebuilt as the shop had time and money, and debuted in blue and yellow in 1976. All the DRGW F's except 1517 and 1530 were traded for GP40-2's in the 1970's. All the former DRGW F's had dual headlights whereas the original ARR and ex-GN F's had single headlights. All except 1517 and 1530 were retired in black and yellow.

1517 got the DOT passenger blue and yellow around 1972 or 1973 and may never have worn black and yellow. It was repainted into the 'bold Alaska' Chester Mack blue and yellow in 1980 along with 1500 and 1502. They were retired and sold in 1986 in this scheme.

1530 may never have worn black and yellow either, and wore the DOT blue and yellow until it was retired and sold in 1986. It was the only unit in this scheme in the 1980's.

1506, 1508, and 1503 were painted in 'bold Alaska' in 1982 and were retired and sold in 1986.

1503 was retired in 2006. A HEP generator was installed in 1982 prior to it's repainting into 'bold Alaska'. 75th anniversary decals were added in 1998.

1505, 1507, and 1504 were retired in 1985 in black and yellow. 1507 was wired to drive the rotary blade for rotary plow ARR 3, and it wore black and yellow until the F's were retired. 1505 was equipped with ARR type B trucks sometime before 1973 and was retired and sold still wearing them.

1510 wore black and yellow until it was repainted in Bicentennial colors in late 1975. It was given dual headlights around 1978 (probably from one of the retired DRGW units) and lost the circle of stars around the DOT logo at that time. Also the big round decals on the sides in front of the cab steps also wore off quickly, I think by the late 1970's.

1512 was also repainted in Bicentennial paint in late 1975. It also got dual headlights in 1978 like the 1510. Both 1510 and 1512 were preferred passenger leaders up until the 'bold Alaska' F's and the two ex-Amtrak E's debuted. Then they were frequently seen in work train service. They were retired in 1986 still in bicentennial paint.

1514 had an electrical fire around 1978 and was held for rebuilding until it was retired and sold in 1983 as a stripped out shell in red oxide primer. I suspect the ex-Amtrak E units sealed its doom or it would have emerged in 'bold Alaska' paint. It would have been interesting to see if it came out with a steam generator or HEP. In fact I think it would have been nice if one of the bicentennial units and 1514 had been repainted in 'bold Alaska' for continued passenger use. Because the 'bold Alaska' F7's were not cabled to pass through HEP or piped to pass through steam. So only if a power car was used could the 'bold Alaska' units run in the A-B-A configuration for which the paint scheme was designed. I only saw them run that way once. Otherwise the B units had to be placed next to the train to supply HEP or steam.

The ex-Amtrak E's however were equipped, one with steam and one with HEP, and they often trailed in an F7A-F7B-E8A configuration.

There were two 1501's. The original bought new F7B was wrecked and traded in on GP30 2000 in the early 1960's. Second 1501 was one of the ex-GN F7B's.

1500, 1501, 1502, 1503, 1504, and 1505 were delivered with larger fuel tanks (like some SP F's) which required notched skirting. 1506, 1508, 1508, and 1510, 1512, 1514 had standard fuel tanks. All were 'phase II' F's with vertical body louvers, no roof overhang, and Farr vertical slit grills. They were delivered without dynamic brakes, but were retro-fitted within a couple of years with the 48" dynamic brake fans.

The ex-GN and DRGW F's were Phase I's with 36" dynamic brakes and horizontal body lovers, horizontal grills, and roof overhangs on the carbody ends. All the second hand F's were Alaskanized with large snow plows and double high winterization hatches.

All the ARR original F's had their front-most radiator fans removed or covered over as they did not need the cooling capacity in the cool Alaskan climate. 1517 and 1530 also lost theirs as well. I don't know about the other second hand F's.

When 1530 was rebuilt it was given a 48" dynamic brake fan that looks like it was a second generation 48" dynamic brake fan.

One last note: 1515 was not traded in for the GP40-2's. It sat in the Anchorage yard from its 1975 retirement until it was scrapped in 1984 presumably to provide parts. But interestingly they never removed it's trucks to replace the AAR type B's in the 1505 with Blombergs.

This could be a nice feature for the website with pictures to illustrate all the details.

Jason Kuehn

March 20, 2013
Perhaps I missed it in Jason's excellent summary, but 1516 had an F3A body and had horizontal slot dynmaic brakes, and not a fan.

Curt Fortenberry

March 23, 2013
I read the info. about the F units. In there he says the ex-Army GP7s only wore black & yellow. The GP7 were rebuilt around '76 and all except for 1 I think came back in blue & yellow. I think it was the 1810 that came back in black & yellow.

Robert Krol

March 23, 2013
Yes you are correct. I meant arrived in black and yellow when the ARR first got them from military surplus.

1810 came back from rebuilding from Morrison Knudsen in 1975 in black and yellow and numbered 1821 I think. It was renumbered 1810 - behind the other GP7's which were rebuilt by the Illinois Central at Paducah, KY. Of those nine, 1801 - the first delivered from Paducah, arrived in black and yellow. 1802 - 1809 wore the Chester Mack 'bold Alaska' scheme.

Jason Kuehn

March 23, 2013
Regarding the GP7's, they all came in black and yellow with high noses and switcher trucks.

ARR rebuilt the noses and eventually put new trucks from retired units.

Paducah rebuilt the units with their current clean cab and nose design. 1801 was delivered in black, the rest in blue/yellow. 1810 was rebuilt by ARR and kept the black & yellow scheme.

Curt Fortenberry

March 23, 2013
Boy, I must be slipping, I don't recall 1810 being done by MK???

Curt Fortenberry

March 23, 2013
Yes it was. In fact MK was so hoping for the full order it commissioned a Howard Fogg painting of the unit in front of Mt. McKinley. It is in the Howard Fogg Diesels book.

Jason Kuehn

The information on this page was created 3/22/13 and last updated 3/23/13

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