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ATSF Warbonnet U28CG

(Requested by Union Pacific Railfan, who initially wanted a Warbonnet DA but accepted my suggestion for a U28CG instead).

If you have a livery request for me, you may leave it in the comments. However, I will only accept your request if I like the idea. I always like it when people ask me to make liveries based on engines/companies I've never heard of.

And another thing, you MUST word it as a question, preferably without the word 'please' as I find it a bit cringe-worthy. One last thing, you HAVE to use proper punctuation, unlike some idiots I've seen who don't use punctuation and still think they can get a request done. You know who you are).

(I hate it when people don't bother to read these rules and just say something like "make (insert livery idea here)". Again, you know who you are, and you've got some nerve thinking you can disregard the rules and still get a request through).

(If you do not get the rules right first time, your request will be denied).

The U28CG was a very rare and obscure locomotive. General Electric designed and built 10 of these engines in 1966, exclusively for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway. The design was essentially a passenger version of the U28C.

ATSF ordered the U28CG’s because they were in need of a new passenger locomotive at the time. In the 1960’s their F units were getting old and less reliable, and needed to be replaced quickly. GE offered a deal where Santa Fe would trade in old ALCO locomotives in exchange for the U28CG’s, and that’s exactly what happened. The 10 engines were numbered from 350 to 359.

All U28CG’s were painted - from new - in the classic Warbonnet livery, although this version wasn’t the same as previous applications. For one thing there weren’t any yellow and black lines on the dividing line between red and silver, and there was a different typeface used for the Santa Fe lettering on each side. The frames and fuel tank were initially painted black, but repainted silver not too long after the engines entered service.

Not much work was required to redesign the U28C into the U28CG. Seeing as there was already a provision for a steam train-heating boiler behind the cab, the U28CG had the same dimensions as her predecessor, however there was a slight protrusion on the left-hand side of the long-hood to accommodate the steam generator.

Even though the U28CG was ordered for passenger service, they looked more like freight locomotives and didn’t fit well with passenger coaches. As a result, Santa Fe ordered six ‘cowl-unit’ locomotives from G.E. (the U30CG) and a further from EMD (the FP45). These were used as an alternative to the U28CG.

Following the derailment of a U30CG in February 1969, both the U28CG and U30CG were withdrawn from passenger service. ATSF re-assigned these engines to freight service. The U28CG’s were renumbered from 350 - 359 to 7900 - 7909 and assigned them to work in Kansas. Over time the engines were repainted in two variants of Santa Fe blue. Because they had split fuel and water tanks, they had a limited fuel range. This meant the engines could only be used on secondary freight trains until the tanks were modified to carry only fuel.

Throughout the 1970’s the U28CG’s were a common sight on freight trains in Colorado. All 10 were retired by Santa Fe in September 1980. They were traded into GE for the then-new B36-7’s. Sadly none of the U28CG’s have survived into preservation.