Santa Fe Telefilm Recording

Wow, early first generation diesels star alongside Santa Fe Railway’s magnificent fleet of steam locomotives in this color film showing the AT&SF was doing its bit to help win World War 2.

As a vital link to the Pacific Theater, Santa Fe received the lion’s share of EMD FT diesel locomotives built before and during the war.

Let’s take a look at how one railroad hauled military, freight and passengers along with all the facilities needed to keep the system going. Santa Fe, All the Way!

An EMC E6 locomotive gets its slant nose scrubbed down as a Baldwin 4-6-4 backs up alongside; a 4 unit set of EMD FT’s pulls past a very smoky iron horse.

GM’s Electro-Motive Division designed the famous red and silver “Warbonnet” paint scheme as well as the more somber, but still classy blue and yellow for the freight FT’s.

AT&SF #3777, a Baldwin 4-8-4 crosses a bridge somewhere in New Mexico.

A spectacular triple header blasts up Raton Pass with a passenger train. 934 and 921 are a couple 2-10-2 engines leading a 3700 series 4-8-4 Northern.

Emerging from the summit tunnel on Raton are #1696 and #3806, both “Santa Fe” type 2-10-2 Baldwins). Those refrigerator cars directly behind the locomotives are getting a good smoking!

Drifting downhill eastbound from Flagstaff, AZ, is this unidentified steamer with a short train.

Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It’s off to work we go! Roundhouse workers get the Dutch Angle treatment. Car cleaners pause for the camera in a Santa Fe coach yard. It took a lot of hard work to keep passenger and freight trains in top condition.

Santa Fe #101 is an A-B-B-A set of EMD FT’s with green “section following” flags. ATSF #101 lines up with 3 steam engines for a publicity photo runby.

ATSF #1362 is a Baldwin 4-6-2 on a passenger train — I’m not sure of the location — nice depot, though; At Kansas City, an EMC E1 pulls out of the station. Just to the left is what I think is a SLSF (Frisco) steam engine.

Trucks, Jeeps, Tanks, Troops. EVERYTHING rode the rails on Santa Fe during wartime.

ATSF #537 is an ancient 4-4-2 Atlantic type, ATSF #1321 is a 4-6-2 Pacific and taking up two frames is the incredibly water-scaled ATSF #3723, a 4-8-2 in for some TLC.

The white scaling you see smeared all over the firebox and tender was caused by bad (hard) water — one of the reasons Santa Fe was so eager to dieselize.

Judging from the mountains in the background, I believe this location is San Bernardino where Santa Fe had a big locomotive facility.

Into the shop goes #3723 for a make over. Taking off the driving rods. This guy is literally chipping off the white crud with a jackhammer. Power-washing the driving wheels.

Putting the finishing touches on a now-gleaming, gloss-black ATSF #3723 rolling past, ready to go back to work hauling tonnage. Look how shiny those driving rods are now!

Number, puh-leez? Women worked the telephones as well as toiled in the shops alongside the men. Here we see two gals power-washing the running gear of a steam engine. That looks like fun!

And… a couple really cool images that didn’t fit anywhere else. First, a classic ATSF logo being stenciled to a box car and Second, a big chalkboard for the Third District. Check out all that detail!

EMD diesels and Baldwin steamers dropped semaphores systemwide as Santa Fe’s famous “Chief” pulls away from the camera.

If you’d like to see the version I reviewed, the link is below:

If you have ANY information about this movie you’d like to share, please contact me at: Lindsay.Korst@gmail.com, or leave a comment.  Thanks and enjoy the blog!

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