Here are some FP7As provided by my good friend Dave Townsend. Edit 3/6/2024: Image 1 - F7A SLSF 25 F9B SLSF 151 and F7A SLSF 22 at the service tracks area at East Yard, Oklahoma City, OK. Note the single track Oklahoma City diesel shop building on the left. Just to the west is the silver bulk sand storage silo or tank and its vertical bucket conveyor elevator leg. Company sand service hoppers are spotted over the dump pit. When unloading sand is screw augered sideways to the elevator leg. In the leg it is elevated to the top of the storage silo. Compressed air is used to move the sand into individual locomotive sand boxes. View looking east northeast. Image 2 - The F7A locomotives in this image feature painted Mandarin orange coonskin heralds positioned high up one the white stripe band. The heralds were positioned differently in two other paint variations in this scheme. Originally a decal version placed the herald low on the nose, splitting the lower Mandarin orange and white band. In a third variation, a limited number of units featured a contrasting color painted herald in a similar position splitting the lower color separation band. Note the elevator leg in the distance above the roof of F7A SLSF 25. View looking northeast. Image 3 - F7A SLSF 22, F9B SLSF 151, F7A SLSF 25 in the wash rack at the service tracks at East Yard, Oklahoma City, OK. The was rack was used primarily to clean passenger car sides when laying over between runs. The roadway bridge in the distance visible at the cab level on the left and below the number boards on the right is South Lincoln Boulevard. It elevates the roadway above the west end of the yard and over the North Canadian River. View looking northwest. Added photograph narrative details and location. MKD
Agree! Thanks for saving and posting those F7 pictures! When I worked that Oklahoma City East Yard, during the Watco years, it looked very different. It has been interesting to see it when it was Frisco property. Andre
Agree, very nice pictures. You can tell these SLSF covered wagons have served long and well. Good views of the cab-top five-forward Leslie horn, the single rear facing horn, the "nail" radio antenna, and the flasher beacon sitting up high on a tall base. Note the B-unit is a F9B. Its dynamic brake fan is visible, as well as the different style side grill. Ken
Wow Ken, You the diesel spotter supreme! After they painted them Mandarin orange and white and took off the skirts, I just had to look at the numbers to tell them apart. Tom G.
Tom, It is the product of a misspent life! The large dynamic brake fan on the F9Bs is an eye-catcher. The change from the fabricated grill to the Farr grill on the sides is much more subtle. Ken
