my ESPEE MODELERS ARCHIVE

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

Cotton Belt SW7

4 units delivered

Cotton Belt had several locomotive models that were unique to them, and not owned by the parent company SP.

The SW7 was one of those, delivered in 1950 in the then new orange and black scheme, however, Cotton Belt had a slightly different orange and black scheme than SP's 'tiger stripe'.

The Cotton Belt locos were painted all over black, with the frame sill painted orange, SP wing shapes at each end of the sides, with no 'feathers', and the orange wrapped around the ends, under, but not over the radiators. At the cab end, the feather shape was only as high as the stepped area up to the cab so the orange likely wrapped around to the other side.
This scheme is a lot harder to describe, than you would think.

These units (as SW 7's) were not MU capable, so in theory, would only be seen operating by themselves.

References:

• Diesel Era, Vol.17 No.2 Mar/Apr 2006, page 42 - EMD's SW7 - Part 6. 4 b/w photos, 2 as SW7's 2 as SW1200E's
• Cotton Belt Locomotives by Strapac - page 183
• SP Dieselization by Garmany - Chapter 9 Postwar Diesel Switchers.
• Extra 2200 South, Issue 55, Jan/Feb/Mar. 1976 - SP Roster, Part II
• Model Railroader Cyclopedia Vol.2 Page 45 - Plans for the very similar SW1200.
• see also my SSW SW9 Info page
• see also my SP SW1200 Info page
• see also my SSW SW1200 Info page

Additional Information on this Page contributed by Bruce Conklin.