Nostalgia & History > Sometimes E's weren't all that pretty

Offered for your consideration are two 1968 views of E's on the Coast Daylight.

At top is an E situated as the railroad deities intended, up front and gleaming in the sun, defiant of a company who now regarded her sleek lines and what they represented as archaic.

At bottom is an insult to all that is holy, an E banished to be led by the nose using all manner of grotesque paraphernalia, which connected it to a mere F, whose exhaust combined with slow drizzle to give a final, gritty, in-your-face insult.

Sometimes E's weren't all that pretty, but the 6051 nevertheless survived her gloomy penance to become a luminous railroad deity in her own right.

-E.O.

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Unless you're the lead elephant, the view never changes much.

Thanks, Ed. Great pics.

Walter



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/15 14:49 by drumwrencher.

hogheaded Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Offered for your consideration are two 1968 views
> of E's on the Coast Daylight.
>
> At top is an E situated as the railroad deities
> intended, up front and gleaming in the sun,
> defiant of a company who now regarded her sleek
> lines and what they represented as archaic.
>
> At bottom is an insult to all that is holy, an E
> banished to be led by the nose using all manner of
> grotesque paraphernalia, which connected it to a
> mere F, whose exhaust combined with slow drizzle
> to give a final, gritty, in-your-face insult.
>
> Sometimes E's weren't all that pretty, but the
> 6051 nevertheless survived her gloomy penance to
> become a luminous railroad deity in her own
> right.
>
> -E.O.


Personally, I like the array of functional additions to the front of the E unit in both photos. The plow pilot gives the loco a "I mean business" look and feel. Beauty after all, is in the eye of the beholder. I also think that SP's grey and red, when properly maintained, gave the locos a dignified look. The photos show what I think best represents the no-nonsense utilitarianism of the SP. BTW, the F is leading what is probably a lash-up assigned to the Sunset because their cabs stayed cooler then did the E units, a significant fact considering the territory the Sunset traversed. The ladders on the top photo were pretty much standard equipment by the time on most all roads that ran E and F units.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/28/15 13:08 by ATSF3751.

In the second photo, what is the disconnected vertical hose on the rear of the F? Boiler water line?

One poster said the F unit cabs stayed cooler than the E unit cabs. Why would that be? Externally they're practically identical.

CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> In the second photo, what is the disconnected
> vertical hose on the rear of the F? Boiler water
> line?
>
> One poster said the F unit cabs stayed cooler than
> the E unit cabs. Why would that be? Externally
> they're practically identical.

The radiator placement in E units is closer to the cab could be one explanation.

The oil canning along the diagonal seam under the window might indicate a high load stress area in the body.
Never noticed that in pictures of "F" units, I wonder if they had same exact plate construction?

That hose, there were two of them on each side of the door, were for transferring water for the Vapor-Clarksons. If they were used they could connect to a "B" unit or the rear of another F style unit.

Never did see one that was hooked up.

Nudge

Lairport Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The oil canning along the diagonal seam under the
> window might indicate a high load stress area in
> the body.
> Never noticed that in pictures of "F" units, I
> wonder if they had same exact plate construction?


I believe they did. It was to provide a "crash zone"
much like in today's automobiles. When taking a frontal
hit, the EMD "covered wagons" were designed to flex and
even to break behind the cab of the unit allowing the
cab to remain an intact unit to protect the occupants.
If you look at wreck photos, you will see that it indeed
worked.

The "it will break here by design" story is urban legend. There was no such design intent on E's and F's. When the carbodies did "fold" behind the cab in certain collisions it was simply because the truss structure wasn't as strong as the cab itself and the likeliest point of failure happened to be behind the cab.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/29/15 05:26 by Labiche.

Regarding the observed "Oil Canning" of those panels. Yes, the E & F unit chassis was like a Truss Bridge, not just a big girder frame like the GP, SD etc. units. That panel was probably just a cover, not really a structural member. These were not like a race car monocoque stressed-skin chassis. The bulges could be from welding or corrosion, perhaps?

E8/9's and F7/9's shared the same arrangement of plates as per the EMD 90 catalog
Earlier E's and F's had other variations
RWJ

SR2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lairport Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The oil canning along the diagonal seam under
> the
> > window might indicate a high load stress area
> in
> > the body.
> > Never noticed that in pictures of "F" units, I
> > wonder if they had same exact plate
> construction?
>
>
> I believe they did. It was to provide a "crash
> zone"
> much like in today's automobiles. When taking a
> frontal
> hit, the EMD "covered wagons" were designed to
> flex and
> even to break behind the cab of the unit allowing
> the
> cab to remain an intact unit to protect the
> occupants.
> If you look at wreck photos, you will see that it
> indeed
> worked.

The 6046 was a "regular" on 99-98 during the period when I worked at Oxnard in the summers of 1965-68. It was usually paired up with one of the E-7's. It was a lot of years ago and I don't have my photos in front of me so I hope I'm remembering correctly.

Have fun, be safe,
Bruce "Doc" Jones Sierra Madre CA

DocJones Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The 6046 was a "regular" on 99-98 during the
> period when I worked at Oxnard in the summers of
> 1965-68. It was usually paired up with one of the
> E-7's. It was a lot of years ago and I don't have
> my photos in front of me so I hope I'm remembering
> correctly.

Here you go, Doc. I took the photo in 1968, as you say.

-E.O.

SP E9A #6046 & E7B #5916 on Train 99, south of Lick, CA

---

why the patch on these?

DocJones Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The 6046 was a "regular" on 99-98 during the
> period when I worked at Oxnard in the summers of
> 1965-68. It was usually paired up with one of the
> E-7's. It was a lot of years ago and I don't have
> my photos in front of me so I hope I'm remembering
> correctly.
>
> Have fun, be safe,
> Bruce "Doc" Jones Sierra Madre CA


Fs handled 98/99 in 67, Es came back until the fall of 68. They alternated with SDP45s in 68

Kimball Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Regarding the observed "Oil Canning" of those
> panels. Yes, the E & F unit chassis was like a
> Truss Bridge, not just a big girder frame like the
> GP, SD etc. units. That panel was probably just a
> cover, not really a structural member. These were
> not like a race car monocoque stressed-skin
> chassis. The bulges could be from welding or
> corrosion, perhaps?

It almost looks like they patched something or had to repair something. 6051 show just smooth panels. but thats a restore job , I've got tons of pics of E' 9's and can't find anything like it .

Thanks very much for the great shot, hogheaded. Those two were quite a pair. Brings back great memories of my doing the station stop at Oxnard and rolling them by at Camarillo when I was off duty.

Have fun, be safe,

Bruce "Doc" Jones Sierra Madre CA


hogheaded Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DocJones Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The 6046 was a "regular" on 99-98 during the
> > period when I worked at Oxnard in the summers
> of
> > 1965-68. It was usually paired up with one of
> the
> > E-7's. It was a lot of years ago and I don't
> have
> > my photos in front of me so I hope I'm
> remembering
> > correctly.
>
> Here you go, Doc. I took the photo in 1968, as you
> say.
>
> -E.O.
>
> SP E9A #6046 & E7B #5916 on Train 99, south of
> Lick, CA