By the time I started shooting slides in the fall 1976 the chances for Soo Line F-unit sets were greatly diminished.
While there were still 44 F's at the time, they were more often than not just trailing units behind second generation hood units. As I was a teenager with limited funds for travel, it was difficult for me to get to far from my normal haunts around Upper Michigan very often. The fact that Trains 911/912 were picking up more COFC business no doubt contributed to the steady stream of SD40/SD40-2 units that Soo's motive power desk assigned to those freights. But every now and the the old F's would get a chance to strut their stuff on 911/912. Here is one of those increasingly rare occurrences as 2501A,503C,212A lead train 911 with 76 cars at Gilchrist.
