Sunning itself in San Luis Obispo, Califonria, is Southern Pacific SD9E 4327. Built by EMD in January 1955 as SP SD9 5378, this unit was renumbered SP 3856 in the 1965 renumbering. When rebuilt/upgraded by the road's Sacramento Shops in January 1971, it emerged as number 4327. It was one of eleven SD9Es to get repainted in the short-lived "Kodachrome" scheme for the proposed merger with Santa Fe in 1986 before the ICC denied the merger in 1987. The best part of the proposed SPSF scheme? Those red numberboards!
