No date or location. The locomotive in front is an EMD AB-6 class diesel electric of which two were built exclusively for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad (the "Rock Island") and delivered in June 1940, numbered by the road 750 and 751, for use on the Rocky Mountain Rocket passenger train, which travelled as a unified train from Chicago, Illinois, to Limon, Colorado, and then divided; one part went to Colorado Springs, and the other to Denver. Rock Island wanted a locomotive that could look like an integrated part of the train during the Chicago-Limon portion of the route, but could then be operated independently to take three cars to Colorado Springs. A regular, cab-equipped A-unit could have been purchased, but that would have ruined the streamlined look of the train, so the Rock Island opted for a flat-fronted locomotive based on an E6B (B unit) but with an operating cab, headlight, pilot (cowcatcher), and other features to enable it to operate independently.
Since the small three- and four-car trains the units would have to haul independently were very light, the AB-6 pair were built with only one 1,000 hp EMD 567 V12 engine, and a baggage compartment where the second engine would have been. Later, with increasing trainloads, the baggage compartment was replaced with a second engine and the axle arrangement changed from A1A-3 to A1A-A1A. In 1965, the units had their steam generators replaced with head-end power and were reassigned to push-pull suburban service in the Chicago area. In this form they lasted until the mid-1970s. (adapted from wikipedia)
Detail views of an HO scale model are on this webpage
1 comment:
The location is Colorado Springs, just north of the joint D&RGW-RI depot. The train is departing northbound on the D&RGW for Roswell, where it will turn East on home rails.
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