A very late BSMFF with engines 9214 and 9394 comes through El Monte, CA on October 16, 1976. When the BSMFF gets into Southern California it literally comes apart. This train has just set out one unit and the City of Industry block at City of Industry.

Both engines are SD45-T2 Tunnel Motors. I am surprised that SP never kept the Tunnel Motors assigned to lines with tunnels, mainly west and north of Colton. The SD40s and SD45s had breathing problems in the confines of some of SP long tunnels. As an experiment in 1972, some SD45s had sheet metal shrouds extending from the radiator area down to the handrails. This pulled in cooler air from lower in the tunnel and kept the engines from overheating. These experimental units were called elephant ears. SP asked EMD for modifications to the SD45s and the Tunnel Motors were the result.

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WJECQ City of Industry