Nostalgia & History > WAG Wednesday: E-unit appeal vs the PA!

On a crisp fall Saturday in 1964 Bill Gibson made another one of his many photographic treks to go shoot the greater Kansas City RR scene. Of course he included the Argentine Diesel Shops in this safari. As we all know, Argentine was once a great mecca for railfan photographers. It was especially so if you were an avid roster shooter, which Bill was. On this day he bagged quite a number of routine rosters, 2 of which I’ve posted below.

Alco’s long-nosed PAs are generally considered to be the most handsome, or beautiful (whichever you prefer) diesel passenger locomotives ever built. It would take quite an upstart effort for anyone to argue with this widely held sentiment. But while scanning Bill’s little yellow Kodak box containing these 2 slides, the resulting images just sorta jumped out at me. And the idea for this ‘comparison’ thread popped into mind. In my own personal preference Santa Fe’s Warbonnet paint scheme as applied to the classic lines of the EMD F-unit is nothing short of visual perfection. So it’s not much of a stretch for me to include Uncle John’s E units in my adulation. After all, the E unit is basically an elongated F-unit, yes!!?

But back to the business at hand. You now have 2 AT&SF passenger unit images before you. Which model do you like best? My late father was always one to be rooting for the underdog, one of the many influences he bestowed upon me. So I will side with the Santa Fe E unit. Of course, I expect to be overwhelmingly out-voted. But it will be fun to read the results that come in.

Here’s a thought: Whichever way you lean, you’ll be leaning on classic Red & Silver! After all, it’s still Santa Fe all the way…

1. AT&SF 73 is part of a consist moving along the Kansas River levee east of the 18th St overpass, near AY Tower.

2. AT&SF 87 sits in the main engine yard at the Diesel Shops west of the 18th St overpass.
Two photos taken in Argentine, KS taken by William A. Gibson (WAG) Sr on October 10, 1964.

Thanks for voting!
Lance Garrels (santafe199)
Art Gibson (wag216)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/07/22 21:33 by santafe199.

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Alco PA

Too tough to call, IMHO

Marty Harrison
Knob Noster, MO

I'll have to agree with Marty !

Double "Gold" award. They are both beautiful.
Bob

Gotta go with the PA.  I recall seeing my first Santa Fe E8m
in Las Cruces, NM, late in '66, when it was subbing for the
RDC's;  didn't realize until then they existed.

Back to the question - - PA still wins overall, but sharpest
E's (bulldog nose version) were the Santa Fe's with the
warbonnet scheme.

 

It's a close call, but my vote goes to the PA if only because of the silver trim strip above the cab windows and doors plus the curved sided fuel tank covers.   Unfortunately,both models were blessed with those awful looking raised radio platforms!  

I also vote for the PA.  But the E does have some advantages - a clean roof is one of them!  Another is the clean flowing lines. 

And anything in the classic warbonnet scheme (all the way through the FP-45s) beats any other RR locomotive, except for the Erie Builts and the DL-109 - very bad interpretation of the scheme.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/16 08:50 by tgibson.

Dang, that's tough.   I'm going with the PA. 

I'm with Lance, EMD. Probably influenced by all the F units in Warbonnet, but then I never was a big PA fan in any scheme.

Alco PA all the way!

Posted from iPhone

I have always loved EMD "Covered Wagons" but the PA is my pick as it has that handsome brutish look.

Victor A. Baird
​http://www.erstwhilepublications.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/16 10:05 by wabash2800.

OK, here's another vote for the PA.

Just for laughs, here is a link to a photo of Santa Fe's No. 1, (the other end of Santa Fe's beauty spectrum), which was modified from the original boxcab to get the engineer and fireman up higher, more out of harms way in a crash.  I saw it several times go through Winfield in the late 40's or early 50's.  It has to be the ugliest locomotive Santa Fe ever ran.  Fortunately, I think it was one of the locos converted to E8's.  

http://www.railphoto-art.org/collections/abbey/#!jig[1]/https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1573/25284081359_29c2041fca_k.jpg

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/28/16 09:46 by jdw3460.

jdw3460 Wrote: > ...  has to be the ugliest locomotive Santa Fe ever ran...
WOOF!!! Now that's a face only Mama could........
On second thought I'll bet Mama through that one outta the litter!

;^)

Both!  It's not like women - you can have more than one favorite!

Both are good, no great...  I am going with the E but like women, you can like more than one at a time... 

YY

My choice for best passenger unit styling goes to the early slant nose E Units.  My next choice goes to the E7 - E9 Units.  In my view, the PA and FA lines do not flow smoothly; they are harsh and choppy.
ALLEN

EMD # 87 hands down.

C vs A-1-A, the PA wins!!

Out

I like them both, and remember seeing both types as a kid growing up south of Topeka. I think #87 has the edge, because there just weren't very many of that exact Santa Fe only model. And, I could see those from the house almost every evening going west. The PA's were actually more interesting to me, but I saw very few in the daytime. (Including a set on freight that came through Pauline during 3rd grade recess...1958?)  When I started paying attention to them, they were on trains #1 & 2, and I listened to them go by around midnight or later, rather than watched them go by.