| When Amtrak took over (most of) America's passenger rail operations in May 1971, they had to make due with a hodge-podge of diesels, mainly E-units, built in the 1940s and 1950s that were, to put it kindly, getting a bit tired. New power was ordered from EMD - a new model, the SDP40F - which began arriving just about two years after Amtrak's inaugural day. The first of these 500-class engines entered service on the former Santa Fe trains - notably, trains #3 and #4, the Chicago to Los Angeles "Southwest Limited." With a built date of July 1973, Amtrak 508 is seen at Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal on July 9th, 1973 after having brought in that morning's #3. These engines were basically passenger versions of EMD's popular SD40-2, in a cowl carbody (reminiscent of EMD's FP45) and including two steam generators and, because they were to operate nationwide, two types of fuel fillers. (On an adjacent track can be seen a bit of a Santa Fe F7A, what were still powering Amtrak's L.A. to San Diego "San Diegans," and which were still owned by Santa Fe and leased to Amtrak. Within a very short time, SDP40Fs would replace these classic Fs as well.) |