The noses of E7's 8's and 9's look pretty much the same as the F unit nose. But is it exactly the same nose? These things were built up out of many small pieces (that were hammered out on wood dies, I understand), welded up and ground smooth. As they were built did they then get applied to E's and F's interchangeably or is there some difference which is not readily apparent?

Steve

Why did C&NW build cabs at all when they had a couple perfectly good examples across town on how to do it even more cheaply?

Why did C&NW build cabs at all when they had a couple perfectly good examples across town on how to do it even more cheaply?

Prewar E-units had the pronounced slope to the nose. They usually had the small number boards; some were retrofitted in later years with large F-style ones for better visibility.

Starting with the 1945 E7, the "bulldog" nose as introduced on the FT locomotives became the standard for the remaining E production.

Early E7 locomotives had the same small numberboard and class lamp combo as used on the FT, F2 and early F3. Many railroads preferred the larger 45-degree number boxes, and many late E7s had those.

The 1950 E8 body design was significantly different than the earlier Es (the bell was no longer recessed into the roof behind the cab, for example) and used a flush, curved glass to cover the number boxes. E9 was the same.

Pilots are another source of infinte variation on Es and some Fs. A careful perusing of EMDs Catalog 90 shows why someone once referred to EMD as "Every Model Different". There was a LOT of variation, both as new and as refitted during a unit's service life.

Howard P.