| Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad F3 165C westbound at Eola, Illinois on February 13, 1966, Kodachrome by Chuck Zeiler. Built in October 1948 (c/n 7012) on EMD Order E957A as 138(A), traded for new power in February 1969, it was delivered as the lead cab of F3 A-B-B-A locomotive 138. Although it was numbered 138, a suffix letter was assigned and applied is small one-inch letters below the word BURLINGTON on the sides for maintenence purposes. The suffix letter was never displayed in the numberboards or on the nose or sides below the cab. When EMD announced the F7 model in 1950, the CB&Q purchased 10 F7A's and three F7B's. Three sets of pure F7 A-B-A locomotives were assembled (167-169), and the the remaining four F7A's were mated with F3A-B sets from locomotives 137 and 138, creating locomotives 163-166. Again, suffix letters were applied only in one-inch letters on the sides, the 163-166 F7A-F3B-F3A sets being considered as a single locomotive, and were semi-permanently coupled. The F7's were assigned the suffix "A" and the F3 cabs were assigned suffix "C". During the 1960's the 163-166 locomotives began receiving couplers in place of drawbars, and the suffix letters were applied to the numberboards and painted on the nose and sides. This particular locomotive received the suffix treatment sometime between March 1965 and February 1966, based on my photographic evidence. Cut in behind the F's is a new SSW SW1200 #2290 being delivered to the Cotton Belt, likely picked up in Congress Park. |