So many railroaders and managers thought that the Santa Fe and Southern Pacific railroads would merge that quite a few locomotives and some cabooses were prepared for the merger by being painted in a new merger-ready paint scheme. The Reagan administration rejected the merger as anti-competitive.
The selected paint scheme was colorful and attractive. Since the merger was not approved, the paint scheme did not last long. Quite a few photographs show the equipment freshly painted or still in excellent condition. The equipment wasn't around long enough to get grungy.
The Southern Pacific Railroad and Santa Fe Railway were so sure their proposed merger would be approved by the Federal Government, that they went ahead and painted over 400 locomotives in the new company's paint scheme.
The merger never happened, but their wishful thinking resulted in a colorful and unique period in the history of these two venerable railroads.
Morning Sun Books, 128 pages, standard portrait size, Color images with captions.
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