Photographer Jordan captured a June 1976 UP excursion as one of his sons watches the action. (Bob Jordan) Amtrak E9B 451, Denver, CO, March Mid-1970s (Bob Jordan)
Yeah, the sun is tough on most red pigments. I was told that the highway departments long ago started using tiny red glass beads for pigment in their stop signs. The beads also reflect light real well.
Red paints back then used iron in their pigments. So, they essentially were internally rusting, rather than oxidizing.
This is just one of those kind of shots that really are cool. I love how it is timed so that 8444 is right at the point of passing the kid watching.
Rusting is oxidizing. Rust is iron oxide. And the paint wouldn't have been red without the iron oxide, as iron is gray.
UP 8444, with 5 borrowed Amtrak cars, waits with an excursion that is almost certainly not on the UP mainline, February 1974 (Bob Jordan) MKT GP40 171, May 1974 (Bob Jordan)
SP SD40 8431, Denver, CO, November 1973 (Bob Jordan) Amtrak P30CH 703 on a foggy morning, Illinois, December 1975 (Bob Jordan)
Interesting, the car behind the "Pooch" looks to be like a bi-level passenger car? Ex-Santa Fe, maybe?
It is a former Chicago & North Western bi-level commuter coach that were used by Amtrak into the mid-70s on their Illinois Zephyr train.
UP SD24B 420B, Cheyenne, WY, September 1975 (Bob Jordan) UP GP9 261, a former turbocharged unit, (Hence the oodles of extra hood vents), November 1974 (Bob Jordan)
UP 261 is one of the earliest "Omaha GP20s". According to Utahrails, it was the 2nd unit so converted out of some 100 A and B units. http://utahrails.net/articles/up-gp9-turbo.php What a find!
A pair of Santa Fe F7s (with 284 in the lead), pull a freight in April of 1974 (Bob Jordan) A short Amtrak train, with all MILW cars, rolls up to the platform in what I believe to be Milwaukee, WI, January 1975 (????)
Sperry Rail Service 144, Denver, CO, July 1976 (Bob Jordan) Conrail E8A 4063, ex-PC, nee-NYC, Chicago, IL, June 1978 (Bill Folsom)
Rock Island GP38-2 4319 "Illinois", Denver, CO, December 5, 1976 (Bob Jordan) At Conrail's Collinwood Yard in Cleveland, Ohio, an eclectic mix of power waits including F7A 4341, Amtrak E8A 441 (former L&N), GP40 3094 and the nose of F7A 4349 in March 1978 (N. Chase)
