The odd couple

Bob Finan sends along this lucky shot from May 1975 of two oddball variations on Santa Fe's pre-warbonnet blue and yellow freight scheme side by side. On the left is GP35 3345, and the area around its numberboards, which should be yellow, is blue instead. On the right is GP30 3274, and the area *above* the numberboards should be blue, not yellow. Meanwhile, the GP35 behind 3274 models a variation on the blue and yellow warbonnet that appeared on a number of early repaints - yellow stepwells and black trucks instead of blue and silver, respectively.

By the way, this wasn't the last unusual paint variation GP30 3274 would wear during its career. Following the BNSF merger, it became BNSF 2472, one of only two blue and yellow warbonnet Santa Fe units to get a full BNSF relettering job (ATSF 2829/BNSF 2529 was the other), with "BNSF" on the long hood and a circular emblem on the nose replacing the noseband. Most BNSF renumbering "patch" jobs were much simpler, adding the new road number and "BNSF" initials on the battery boxes while leaving the noseband and hood lettering unchanged.