This is an original watercolor painting by General Motors artist Harry Bockewitz showing the proposed color scheme for E7 locomotives that the manufacturer was hoping to sell to the railroad. The paint design is nearly identical to the F3 locomotives that SP&S had purchased from GM in 1947. In 1948, SP&S bought a single E7 locomotive from GM, but it wasn’t delivered in this color scheme. Update: See below.

Click image to download a 2.6-MB PDF of this painting.

The SP&S favored Alcos for freight service as it replaced its steam locomotives with Diesels. But for passenger locomotives it bought from GM, including two F3s purchased in 1947. When co-parent Great Northern streamlined the Empire Builder and powered it with E7 locomotives, it apparently asked the North Bank Road to provide matching equipment for the Portland-Spokane leg of the Empire Builder‘s route.

So the SP&S ordered a few streamlined passenger cars, including a diner (Columbia) and two sleeper-lounges (Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens), that were painted in Empire Builder colors. Plus it purchased the E7 from General Motors and also had it painted identically to GN’s except with the SP&S oval logo on the nose in place of Rocky.

These colors lasted for about four years. When SP&S’s other co-parent, Northern Pacific, finally improved the North Coast Limited schedule to match that of the Empire Builder in 1952, which meant the SP&S would handle cars from both trains in one section, SP&S repainted its E7 in dark green with yellow stripes and nose, similar to the F3. Note that the area around the windshield is also painted yellow, which was’t part of the original F3 color scheme. Also note that the sweeping curve dividing the yellow and green on the nose is shaped a little differently from the painting above.

According to the SP&S Historical Society, the 750 actually went through seven different color schemes in its lifetime, including, for a brief time, one matching the F3 with no yellow around the windshield. From 1964 to 1969, the paint scheme was simplified — uglified would be more accurate — to include one broad yellow band, from the top of the portholes to just above the wheelsets, while the rest was green. Finally, in 1969, it was painted entirely green with no yellow stripes; just the name of the railroad and engine number in yellow on the side and a simplified red SP&S logo on the nose.

This painting was obviously in a picture frame at one time. Underneath the mat board framing the painting, the paint continues briefly in all directions, with different colors extending different distances. Though the mat board is yellowed with age, the paint itself remains bright and appears to be unfaded in any way.

Though I can’t find any information about him on line, Harry Bockewitz’s name appears on a lot of locomotive paintings. Most pertinently here, he did this painting of Great Northern’s E7s in their as-delivered schemes with forward-facing Rocky on the sides and “Great Northern Railway” in script on the nose. GN kept this scheme for a short time but replaced it with the one used for the streamlined Empire Builder in time for that train’s 1947 introduction.

Update: According to several people writing on the SP&S io.group, the SP&S 750 was indeed delivered in the colors shown in this painting. It wasn’t painted in Empire Builder colors until June 1951 when Great Northern introduced the Mid-Century Empire Builder. It probably was painted back into SP&S colors by November 1952 when Northern Pacific speeded up its North Coast Limited to match the Empire Buider‘s schedule.