Below is the text of an interesting posting by Rob Sarberenyi on the on-line Diesel List. He is reviewing lists of locomotive orders that were cancelled before they were built. Looks like, per Rob, the Frisco ordered eight EMD GP-20's. I may have forgotten as this was long ago, but I'm not sure I knew that! I assume they would have been in the black/yellow scheme if delivered as the orange/white did not show up until later on GP-35's and U25b's. (It was copied from the EMD demonstrator scheme on the GP-35 and DD-35 models). It would be interesting to do an undec P2K GP-20 in Frisco b/y to get a feel for what it would have looked like! Ken Following is Rob's posting: ................................................................................... Following is what I have for CANCELLED orders for EMD GP20s. There could possibly be others, this is what I have found so far: Qty Road Order # Builder #s Notes 4 SLSF 7613-01 to -04 27003-27006 Frisco 4 SLSF 7614-01 to -04 27007-27010 Frisco Remember, these units were _never_ built. Rob Sarberenyi
It can’t be a coincidence that the GP-20 order was for 8 units, and the first order for the high-nosed U-boats was for 8 units. The story goes that the Santa Fe was running the wheels off the Frisco covered wagons that were dedicated to the run-through trains. Not only were the units accumulating mileage at passenger unit rates, the Santa Fe was running them at speeds that exceeded the Frisco gearing. The Santa Fe also preferred the units with dynamic brakes, so in theory, the number of units that the Frisco could put into the pool was limited to the F-9Am and associated F-9B units. My theory with regard to the cancellation of the order centers around the difference in the horsepower increase for a given turbo-charged unit. A turbo-charged GP-20 would bring an increase of only 250 HP per unit over a F-9 unit, and a GP-30 would buy an additional 500 HP per turbo-charger over a F-9 unit. Enter the U25B which would bring an additional 750 HP per turbo-charger. Throw in 70 mph gearing, and the Frisco had a unit that was perfect for high-speed, run-through service. EMD wouldn’t produce a comparable unit until the GP-35, which arrived 3 years after the first U-Boats plied Frisco rails The ATSF placed 4, 6-unit covered wagons into the pool, and the Frisco placed 2, 4 unit sets of U-25B’s, and 1, F-9 set that consisted of 6 units. The June 1962 TRAINS magazine has a two page spread of F-9Am, 5007, leading 5 other F-9’s and Birmingham-bound CTX as it climbs Cajon Pass. The associated caption by David P. Morgan, claimed that the units were running 5,000 mile per week, and 20,000 mile per month. It’s too bad that Lee Buffington isn’t still around; he would have the inside scoop about this. Ken, I look forward to seeing your b/y GP-20. From a railfan's view point, I am glad that the Frisco bucked the EMD trend. The high-nosed U-boats were favorites.
Karl - Thanks. I'll bet your thoughts as expressed above are pretty much correct. I would suspect the b/y paint scheme for the Frisco GP35's would be an appropriate template for a b/y Frisco GP20. Anybody else have a better idea? Ken
Most likely, you'd be right. Unless, of course, they were built as hi-nose units, in which case probably the modified stripe scheme the GP7s were getting around the late 1950s/early 1960s.
