my ESPEE MODELERS ARCHIVE

California's Railroad to the U.S. 1861 - 1996

Southern Pacific
VO-660

2 units delivered

As delivered in 1941, these came with a cast steel underframe, single exhaust stack and manually operated radiator shutters. Paint was basic black, with either white or aluminum frame stripe, road number and stencilling, and lettered Southern Pacific Lines. Sources say the lettering was aluminum, Kato appears to have chosen white for their HO Scale NW2, which is modelled from the same era.

These units were ones of many that operated on the Pacific Electric, and both were lettered for the PE and had trolley poles fitted to activate the PE Grade crossing signals. Class lights were also applied, possibly by PE, as they don't show in SP service photos. The practice of lettering SP lease units for Pacific Electric stopped around 1955.

Many mechanical modifications were made over their lives, some of these included:

• the addition of cab armrests and awnings,
• the addition of shutters over the top of the radiator fan,
• the addition thermostatical control for all radiator shutters,
• the addition of an expansion tank for the radiator behind the headlight,
• the single exhaust stack was changed to a four stack arrangement,
• and later the exhausts were reduced to just two,
• extra sets of louvers at the top of the hood sides, behind the existing louvers,
• a mesh grid over the top radiator screen,
• the hood side radiator screen was plated over,
• the cast steps were replaced by welded steel steps.

Paint schemes:

• delivered in black and white/aluminum, lettered Southern Pacific Lines,
• received standard orange and black switcher Tiger Stripe paint, lettered Southern Pacific,
• later orange and black 'Halloween' paint, lettered Southern Pacific. Neither received the 1958 scarlet and gray, even though they survived until 1963.

References:

• Extra 2200 South, Issue 56, Apr, May, Jun 1976 - SP Roster Part III
• SP Motive Power Annual 1970 - Built by Baldwin article.
• SP Motive Power Review 1983-85 - SP Baldwin Diesels article.
• SP Dieselization by John Bonds Garmany.