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ATSF Blue F9A No. 287C

Coming soon - Norfolk Southern AC44C6M No. 4047 (primer cab).

Here's the last engine in my Santa Fe blue trio. In real life No. 287C wasn't an F7A, but rather an F9A. Unfortunately it isn't possible to alter the in-game model to accurately depict an F9A.

F9A No. 287C was yet another one of the Santa Fe’s F series locomotives. She was built by EMD in July 1956, and entered service soon after.

The F9 was the 5th engine in EMD’s F series. 257 of these locomotives were built between 1953 and 1960; 101 of them were A units while 156 were B units. The only notable difference between an F9 and F7 is that the F9 has an extra filter grille ahead of the front porthole, a feature not present on the F7. Another difference - though this one is internal - is that the F9 has a 1,750 horsepower prime mover (the EMD 567C), while the F7 only has 1,500 horsepower.

The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe railway ordered only 18 F9 locomotives from EMD, with nine of them being F9A’s (go figure). These were used to haul freight trains in Texas for most of their service life.

287C remained in service until 1974, when she was rebuilt as another CF7. It’s unclear as to why the engine was still designated as a CF7 instead of CF9, given that she was rebuilt from an F9A. Regardless, the rebuilt locomotive was renumbered as 2515.

CF7 No. 2515 remained with the Santa Fe until 1989, when she was sold to the Indiana Railroad. The engine met a sad end in 1991, when she was damaged in a derailment and scrapped soon after.