In a Tuesday news release, museum officials say they’ve restored and successfully tested Santa Fe FP45 No. 92. Officials say National Railway Equipment Co. mechanically restored the locomotive at its Silvis, Ill., shops throughout winter 2018 following a 2017 fund drive.
Museum officials say now they are raising money to restore the locomotive’s exterior with sheet metal work and original red-and-silver “Warbonnet” paint and trim. The locomotive is expected to appear much as it did during its run on the Chicago to Los Angeles Super Chief passenger train.
The locomotive will operate on the museum’s in-house demonstration railroad pulling tourist trains throughout the season.
EMD built the locomotive in LaGrange, Ill., in 1967 as No. 102. After the creation of Amtrak and discontinuance of Santa Fe passenger trains, No. 92 hauled freight train under the Super C service and in 1989 was one of two locomotives featured in the debut of Santa Fe’s then Super Fleet service.
Santa Fe successor BNSF Railway donated the locomotive to the museum in 1997 in non-operating condition.
I saw her sister #93 back in the 1990s when it was roaming the Conrail system, first at Rockville, coming off the Buffalo Line and another time as trailing power on an ENPI westbound near PORT interlocking at Newport, PA. A very sharp contrast to the same old Conrail blues it was teamed with. Maybe not as exciting as this week’s UP Special over that same route but at the time it was the thing to be looking for, in a world that knew not of Heritage Units. After their retirement I saw the FP45 #95 displayed at Barstow, near the Castle Del Desierto station, and nearby were the recently retired fleet of former Amtrak SDP40Fs that BNSF had just stored dead on the eastern end of the Barstow Terminal complex. The Museum of the American Railroad has the #97, now repainted back to #105. Hopefully some of the F45s will be saved if not already, would be a shame if none of them were.
This is nice, I am glad that the Illinois Railway Museum took the time and money to make this classic Santa Fe FP45 Diesel operational once again. Out of the 6 Surviving FP45’s this will be the 2nd one to be rebuilt as the Orange Empire Railway Museum’s FP45 #98 now back to #108 is complete from its rebuild although has not yet been debuted on the museum grounds yet.
But since OERM is repainting their FP45 in original 1967 Warbonnet colors, I would have liked to see IRM’s FP45 in a later Santa Fe paint scheme either the SPSF Kodachrome paint scheme or the Blue & Yellow Pinstripe paint scheme.
As illustrated here, railroading in the dark days of the late 1960s looked more prosperous and image conscious than the class ones today. Great job IRM in preserving that spirit!
Not the *original* 20 cylinder prime mover, but a 20-645 much like it had when built.
How about restoring her original number, 102.
Original 20 cylinder prime mover?