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913 was the most famous
F-unit of the "Final Four" during their last 4 years in service. She was
selected as the only one of the 4 to be painted in WP's orange and silver
paint scheme that they did away with during the early 70's.
913 was built on 1/27/1950 (SN 8976) as 920-A. In 1971 she swapped numbers with the original 913-A. That same year she recieved the former SP plow pilot from the recently scrapped 921-A. In 1975, as with all F-units left on the roster, the alpha suffixes were dropped.
In 1977 913 and 921 were shipped to Morrison-Knudsen in Boise Idaho for major work. 913 and 921 swapped prime movers since 921 had the better of the two. After arriving home in February 1978, she was immediately repainted in a modified freight/passenger orange and silver paint job that made her the most photographed F of the four. 913 and her 3 sisters ran, usually pulling the San Jose Turn from Milpitas to Stockton for the next 3 years until Union Pacific bought WP and everything changed. 913 and 918 were retired roughly the same time in 1981, leaving 917 and 921 to carry on for almost another year. WP donated 913 to the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, Ca. as a surprise gift that year, where she is currently on display (and is run on occasion). |
913 and two sisters (plus some geeps and GE's) at Radum (near
Pleasanton) in 1980. Dan Furtado photo.
Greg Elems caught 913 and sisters in Stockton in 1980.
Information sources:
Western Pacific's Diesel Years by Joseph Strapac
D-Day on the Western Pacific by Virgil Staff
California's Final Four F's (Nov 1978 Trains Magazine)
by Ted Benson
