The Southern Pacific painted 3 locomotives to help celebrate the nation’s bicentennial. As shown above, they are GP40P-2 3197, Cotton Belt (SSW) SD45T-2 9389, and U25BE 6800. These three locomotives roamed the Southern Pacific system for several years. The GP40P-2 was built for San Francisco-San Jose Peninsula Commute service, and so was seen by commuters on a daily basis. Cotton Belt 9389 was used to assist Southern Pacific’s GS-4 as it toured the Southern Pacific system with the American Freedom Train.
These three were also featured on the cover of my first “Southern Pacific Motive Power Annual”
The three locomotives were assembled for photos to be used in a Southern Pacific Annual report. It appears the locomotives, as a set, were sent out one one train, and returned on another without being turned. 3197 leads in the first photo, with 6800 trailing, and then 6800 leads, with 3197 trailing.
For the HO scale modeler, Athearn produced the GP40P-2 and at least two different runs of the SD45T-2 in this paint scheme. Bowser produced 2 different versions of the U25B in the Bicentennial paint scheme. I eventually picked up all three and will detail how I detailed these “Ready to Run” models.
Well, at least as of this writing, the Athearn GP40P-2 is acceptable as-is. There was minor work done to the Bowser U25BE. The SD45T-2 will be saved for last, as it’s the most extensive.
Stay tuned!