Athearn Genesis - HO Scale - EMD F7B Diesel Locomotive - Individual - with DCC & Tsunami2 Sound - Santa Fe (ATSF) #266A - Blue/Yellow/Black (Era: Early 1960s+) (SKU 141-1729)
Available On: October 1, 2025
PROTOTYPE AND BACKGROUND INFO:
EMD F-units were a line of diesel-electric locomotives produced between November 1939 and November 1960 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors-Diesel Division. Final assembly for all F-units was at the GM-EMD plant at La Grange, Illinois and the GMDD plant in London, Ontario, Canada. They were sold to railroads throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Structurally, the locomotive was a carbody unit, with the body as the main load-bearing structure, designed like a bridge truss and covered with cosmetic panels. The so-called bulldog nose was a distinguishing feature of the locomotive’s appearance, and made a lasting impression in the mind of the traveling public.
The F-units were the most successful “first generation” road (main line) diesel locomotives in North America, and were largely responsible for superseding steam locomotives in road freight service. Before this, diesel units were mostly only built as switcher locomotives, and only used in rail yards.
F-units were sometimes known as “covered wagons”, due to the similarity in appearance of the roof of an F-unit to the canvas roof of a Conestoga wagon, an animal-drawn wagon used in the westward expansion of the United States during the late 18th and 19th centuries. When a train’s locomotive consist included only F-units, the train would then be called a “wagon train”. These two usages are still popular with the railfan community.
F-Unit SERIES LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:
SOUND-EQUIPPED MODELS ALSO FEATURE
PRIMED FOR GRIME MODELS FEATURE
Santa Fe
With a fleet of over 450 EMD F7’s Santa Fe had one of the largest fleets of this iconic EMD locomotive. Beginning in 1959 the railroad began modernizing these units with several federally mandated appliances which changed their appearance. The company also began installing inertial air filters in order to improve their reliability. This release of our Genesis F-series Santa Fe freight service F-7’s depicts them in their 1960’s to early 1970’s appearance. While they served system wide for many years as the sixties progressed, they were found most often in Texas and on the eastern lines of the railroad.
ATSF FEATURES:
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