The Swan The Became an Ugly Duckling

Former LAJ CF7 #2619 sitting in Lordstown, Ohio.
The 233 CF7's that were built all started life as Santa Fe F-Units. The building program started in 1969 at the Cleburne, Texas shops and ran until 1978. It was a cost saving measure since ATSF could overhaul and rebuild these units for half the cost of a new road switcher. Santa Fe removed the carbodies from the F-units and added a narrow long hood similar to that of the EMD GP units. They also replaced the F-Units famous Bulldog nose with a cab and nose similar to the ones on Geeps. Some early units have a rounded cab to while later ones have the squared off or "Topeka" cab roof.
By the late 1980's all the CF7's had been purged from the ATSF fleet, finding homes on various shortline and regional railroads. A few even made it into the AMTRAK roster for MOW work. Many are still on the rails today.