N Scale - Bachmann - 4646 - Locomotive, Diesel, EMD F9 - Santa Fe - 215

Prototype History: The EMD F9 was a 1,750 horsepower (1,300 kW) Diesel-electric locomotive produced between February 1953 and May 1960 by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) and General Motors Diesel (GMD). It succeeded the F7 model in GM-EMD's F-unit sequence. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant. The F9 was also built in Canada by General Motors Diesel at their London, Ontario plant. A total of 100 cab-equipped lead A units and 154 cabless booster B units were built. The F9 was the fifth model in GM-EMD's highly successful "F" series of cab unit diesel locomotives.

A F9 can be distinguished reliably from a late F7 only by the addition of an extra filter grille ahead of the front porthole on the side panels on A units. Internally, the use of an 567C prime mover increased power to 1,750 hp from the F7's 1,500 hp.

By the time cab units such as the F9 were built, railroads were turning to the road switcher-style of locomotive, and the F9 was succeeded in most part by the EMD GP9.

From Wikipedia

Road Name History: The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (reporting mark ATSF), often abbreviated as Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. Chartered in February 1859, the railroad reached the Kansas-Colorado border in 1873 and Pueblo, Colorado, in 1876. To create a demand for its services, the railroad set up real estate offices and sold farm land from the land grants that it was awarded by Congress. Despite the name, its main line never served Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the terrain was too difficult; the town ultimately was reached by a branch line from Lamy.

The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport, an enterprise that (at one time or another) included a tugboat fleet and an airline (the short-lived Santa Fe Skyway). Its bus line extended passenger transportation to areas not accessible by rail, and ferryboats on the San Francisco Bay allowed travelers to complete their westward journeys to the Pacific Ocean. The ATSF was the subject of a popular song, Harry Warren & Johnny Mercer's "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe", written for the film, The Harvey Girls (1946).

The railroad officially ceased operations on December 31, 1996, when it merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway.

Read more on Wikipedia.

Paint Scheme: While there were many, now-classic paint schemes to grace locomotives during the start of the diesel and streamliner age of the 1930s none became as legendary as Santa Fe's "Warbonnet" (and most did not even receive a formal name). The design was the creation of artist Leland A. Knickerbocker, who worked for General Motors. During the mid-1930s the company needed a classy, matching livery to the Native-American themed train that the Santa Fe was planning to debut. Of course, you probably know the name of this train, the Super Chief, which went on to become just as famous as the paint it wore.

The Warbonnet was shelved by the railroad following the end of passenger service in 1971 but was readopted in the late 1980s. Following the creation of Burlington Northern Santa Fe in 1995 a version of the livery was briefly used but was finally dropped altogether.

From AmericaRails.com

Brand/Importer Information: Bachmann Industries (Bachmann Brothers, Inc.) is a Bermuda registered Chinese owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specializing in model railroading.

Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of its North American headquarters, Bachmann is today part of the Kader group, who model products are made at a Chinese Government joint-venture plant in Dongguan, China. Bachmann's brand is the largest seller, in terms of volume, of model trains in the world. Bachmann primarily specializes in entry level train sets, and premium offerings in many scales. The Spectrum line is the high quality, model railroad product line, offered in N, HO, Large Scale, On30, and Williams O gauge all aimed for the hobbyist market. Bachmann is the producer of the famous railroad village product line known as "Plasticville." The turnover for Bachmann model trains for the year ended 31 December 2006 was approximately $46.87 million, a slight increase of 3.36% as compared to 2005.

User gdm comment: My first N Scale locomotive!