Lyle and All-
I am not sure that the trucks on the E5 have been blackened….note the E8/9 behind it with freshly painted silver trucks. I think the trucks are just filthy. Maybe the trucks were only painted when they came back from work at West Burlington and by this time not touched up regularly at 14th Street?
The reason the skirts were cut down was for easier access to the top of the fuel tanks (????). It appears that the E5s had removable access panels along most of the fuel tank so they would not have to be chopped as you could inspect the tank easily.
One can’t be sure if a unit is dirty or it is painted. I don’t know why they would paint stainless steel….except the wartime painting of the roofs of the Exposition Flyer prewar cars I don’t think the Q did that at all….
When I was at Kato I got into trouble with the CNJ guys because it appeared that the roofs of their RDCs were black….there was a crisp demarcation between the stainless sides and the black roof. Some claim it was just diesel soot and coal smoke…..
Charlie Vlk
From: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io> On Behalf Of Lyle Dowell
Sent: Friday, January 4, 2019 5:13 PM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Re: [CBQ] BRHS Calendar - E5A question
Just to add t0 my original post, on later inspection I see the trucks have also been blackened so I think it's safe to saw the skirts have been likewise painted.
On 1/4/2019 4:49 PM, Lyle Dowell wrote:
The July image in the new BRHS calendar is of an E5a in front of a Twin City train. A couple of things puzzle me, wonder if there's an explanation (and I'm probably incorrectly informed to begin with). The full length skirts above the tanks are still in place. I thought this was universally shortened. Am I wrong (probably) or was the full length one re-installed? I doubt that but looking to get correct info. More interesting to me however is that it appears to have been painted black, perhaps to blend against the fuel tank. It looks too uniform to be road grime. as it been in fact painted? Thx for any info
Lyle Dowell