Railworks America

Just out of curiosity. Why are the plain ATSF Locos called bookends?

In railroading terms,it means the locos are coupled back to back,in a manner that the engines operate as a power "set". This is useful on a run where the" power" will run around the train,in order to have a engine to operate lead,on the return trip.

suzukisk wrote:Just out of curiosity. Why are the plain ATSF Locos called bookends?

Are you talking about the paint scheme?

The Santa Fe bookend paint scheme refers to yellow ends with a blue carbody and a yellow stripe. Not sure whether a fan or the railroad came up with the nickname, but it's been around for awhile.

As my curiosity was spurred by the recent repaints. The color scheme related answer was probably closer to what I was looking for but book-ending locos in separate directions was also interesting.

Thanks for the info.