Pacing the Q Train Santa Fe’s Q-train south out of Big Lift (Denver), Colorado hums down the Joint Line, south of Castle Rock, Colorado, on July 10, 1989. Cowl F45 No. 5989 leads the train, and is painted in a scheme for the proposed merger that never happened between Southern Pacific and Santa Fe. Some say that the future letters that were to emblazon the sides of the ill-fated SPSF stood for “Shouldn’t Paint So Fast” since many locomotives, mostly Santa Fe, were repainted before the merger was approved. The scheme was frequently nicknamed “Kodachrome” for it’s resemblance to the colors of a famous slide film box. Yes, fittingly this image is on Kodachrome 64 . . .
