Bookends ?

[suzukisk]

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

[RAILSOHIO]

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.

[JohnS]

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

Are you talking about the paint scheme?

[cnwfan]

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.

[suzukisk]

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.