my ESPEE MODELERS ARCHIVE

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

Cotton Belt B36-7

7770 - 7773

4 units delivered

Cotton Belt took delivery of these four units in January of 1980. These were 3600hp B36-7 prototypes in basically a B30-7 carbody. One of the spotting features, (other than the roadnumber...). is the overly large exhaust stack. Everything else that makes these worth more than a B30-7 is internal...

#7771 is the most well known of the quartet. In April of 1981 it was involved in a head-on collision near Moscow on the Lufkin Branch in Texas. Shipped off to Taylor Shops in Los Angeles, #7771 was slowly rebuilt as a cabless B-unit. Although it looks very similar to BN's cabless units, the sheetmetal was scratchbuilt.

Prototype References:

• 1980 SP Review, "Recruits-1980" page 56.
• 1981 SP Review, "Newsworthy Events of 1981" page 53 - photo of wrecked 7771.
• 1983-85 SP Review, page 121 - photo of 7771 as a B-unit
• SP into the '90s by Joe.W.Shine Page 182 also has 2 good shots of #7771
• SP 1987/88 Motive Power Pictorial by Joe.W.Shine, Page 122.