Tom-
The car washers would be adjusted with enough reach to the brushes so they could clean the skirts on passenger cars. We’d have to look for pictures of the wash rack at Chicago to determine how low the brushes were set.
The skirts on the E5s were inset, likely deeper than the inward curve of the full skirts on passenger cars, so it is likely that they would have been cleaned manually.
While there are photos of the power going through the wash rack I don’t know if this was normal practice, especially in later years.
Charlie Vlk
From: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io> On Behalf Of Tom Mack via Groups.Io
Sent: Sunday, January 6, 2019 12:22 PM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Re: [CBQ] BRHS Calendar - E5A question
Might the seemingly clear demarcation of grime have anything to do with the car washers that the E-units would have run through? Perhaps the brushes were set to a point above the trucks? I think the side brushes in a washer were vertically adjustable, and when running an E-unit through the washers they might not have wanted to have the brushes hitting the trucks. Not that the water would cause a problem, but there is a lot more chance of the brushes getting caught on something on the trucks and the car washer brushes being damaged.
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Tom Mack
Cincinnati, OH