SBC FT restored in Museum
Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2025 6:23 amI had a request from CNWfan for this one. Uploading it today.
Here's some prototype context behind the repaint. The Sonora, Baja, and California was an independent Mexican railroad that ran from Benjamin Hill to Mexicali roughly following the Gulf of California. Back in 1964, the SBC purchased an A-B set of traded in NP FT's from GE. The units ran up their revenue miles in both freight and passenger service until about 1976 when they were sidelined at the shops in Benjamin Hill. Then in the early 90's, the shop forces pulled the A unit out of storage and restored the unit to operating condition, including a new red paint scheme. The A unit returned to revenue service until about 1997 when the NdeM / FNM was privatized and the passenger service in Mexico was suspended. Eventually, the A unit was put on display at the railroad museum in Puebla, MX.
It seems the B unit wasn't so fortunate, at least based on my research. In the below YouTube video, it shows the Benjamin Hill shop forces working on the B unit, but it probably never made it back into revenue service.
Additional Resources
Web page on SBC F units: https://wx4.org/to/foam/mexico/s-bc/f/units.html
Additional A unit photos: https://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoP ... x?id=87091
Additional B unit photos: https://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoP ... ?id=182376
YouTube video from C Vision on the FCP (fast forward to about 1 hr 21 min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-MoMvQz15o
Mexico's railroads back in the 90's was an interesting mix of original Mexican and 2nd hand US equipment, including vintage passenger equipment still in revenue service. Enjoy!