KCS Bicentennial Units
No, this is not a joke livery, this actually existed in real life, contrary to what you think. Nonetheless, here is a rather "interesting" release for the 4th of July, with the KCS Bicentennial Units, which are the "best" of the beautifully painted Bicentennial units that railroads gave us.
KCS first ordered SD40s starting in 1966, and continuing buying SD40s well into the 1970s including the popular Dash 2 variants with the fleet being numbered in the 600 series range. When 1976 came around the corner, began the trend of Class I railroads painting select engines into "Bicentennial colours" to celebrate 200 years of Independence. KCS chose to paint 2 SD40s (#616 and #642 respectively) but the outcome was…….. different to say the least.
The story goes that the KCS had a contest open to there employees children to design a bicentennial scheme, and one kid was chosen. I’ll admit, the scheme is "questionable" but i gotta respect that a kid drew this. I mean, it could be WAY worse…..
Nonetheless, both units were eventually repainted back into there original colors and continued service on the KCS for years. 616 is now currently owned by CSX as #8872 and reclassified as an SD40-2, which still continues to serve CSX today. 642 is also still around as #3205, and painted into the "Southern Belle" colors. Both units will definitely be remembered as the "normal" Bicentennial units that american railfans ever seen.
In this pack, you get both #616 and #642 in the creative scheme, and as a bonus, 2 regular "White’ KCS SD40-2s to recreate a 1970s consist with these units. Hopefully my american subscribers enjoy this different 4th of July release. I dont have much planned for a while given that Rolling Line is eating my memory way more often. But i do have a small release coming up this month, so stay tuned. For now, enjoy 😉
CREDIT:
ABStudios – EMD SD40-2 model
Required items:
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American Freight Expansion III — Steam Workshop
