I am going through a lot of my stuff now, doing some house cleaning, and I
opened up a Proto 2000 CB&Q E8A #9943A and a CB&Q E7A #9921A. One of the
things I noticed is that both units are painted aluminum. I also checked
my Athearn Genesis CB&Q F3 #9962A-B-C, which is also painted aluminum. I
know that Athearn Genesis has been doing an exceptional job researching
their diesels, and I have the WP F3s which have stainless steel panels
behind the cab doors and below the belt line. Athearn is not perfect,
because I bought a D&RGW F3A rebuilt to an F9M (#5531) with horizontal
grilles instead of the F9 vertical grilles. I brought this to Athearn's
attention, and they quickly sent me a set of vertical grilles as
replacements.
I recalled that Q E motors had stainless steel side panels on them. I
opened up Michael Spoors' four volumes and Alfred Holck's two volumes and
started reviewing them for E photos. Spoor covers this issue on pp. 10-11
of Volume 1, when he shows a photo of #9937A and mentions that as the first
E8A, its stainless steel sides were installed by the West Burlington diesel
shop. He also shows a photo of #9964 and says that it was the first E8 to
come from EMD with stainless steel side panels. The stainless steel panels
were installed behind the cab doors and below the air intake grilles. I
also saw a number of photos of E7s in Holck's Volume 1, in pp. 74-75,
showing stainless steel panels installed in the same way except for the
vertical grille behind the cab doors, which is painted aluminum.
This raises a number of questions. Holck says that E7A #9924A remained in
aluminum paint throughout its career. In what order, if any, did the Q
install stainless steel side panels to E7s, E8s, and E9s? Was there any
system used to pick the E motors which received this upgraded feature?
Spoor says that E8A #9964A was the first motor of the third order of E8s
from EMD and the first to come from EMD with stainless steel side panels in
1952. Were all of the E9s built with stainless steel side panels? Were
the B motors also built or retrofitted with stainless steel side panels?
During what period were the E7s and first E8s retrofitted with these
sides? From looking at photos, I assume that the passenger F3s were
painted aluminum until they were placed in freight service and painted
gray. Did any of the F3s - #9960, 9961, and 9962 - ever receive stainless
steel side panels?
The easiest class for this question are my favorite Q diesel, the E5s, as
they were built with stainless steel sheathing covering their bodies, making
them one of the most magnificent diesels ever. I am building an A-B set
from a Proto 2000 E6 A-B set, adding the corrugated fluting to the sides.
I am using the plans from the November 2003 *Mainline Modeler*.
- John Manion
Denver, CO
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
CBQ-digest@yahoogroups.com
CBQ-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
CBQ-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|