The B&O museum since COVID started have made an effort to release daily content on their social media pages regarding some of their locomotives, stock, or other various things. Today on what they call their “train talk”, they released information about the progress on cosmetically restoring B&O EA #51, famously the first E unit Diesel Locomotive, restored to As Built condition. According to them, the restoration has been completed, and the locomotive has apparently been moved back to its longtime location in the Car Shop.

Here’s the Facebook page below, no requirement for logging in I don’t believe. If you’re against the use of Facebook, I also believe they’ve uploaded it on their other social media platforms.

https://m.facebook.com/story/graphql_pe ... U4OQ%3D%3D

It's absolutely beautiful. Note the recreation of the original style pilot, replacing the F until style pilot it wore late in its career. Also note the stainless trip piece on the nose. That took some real craftsmanship to recreate.

What a beauty. Wonderful work.

Is there anything inside the carbody?

The original Winton engines are inside, but the generators have been removed. The traction motors are also absent. I don’t know how complete the cab is.

The EA-EB's were rebuilt by EMD into E8Am-E8Bm's rated at 2000 HP instead of 2250. Were the generators and motors among the components that were rebuilt and installed on the E8's?

Phil Mulligan

These photos predate the restoration, but they do give an idea of what was in there, what remained, from the locomotive after retirement.

I hope the interior got similar treatment to the exterior.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127696208 ... 804132859/

I remember that generator coupling disc fan sitting in the walkway, shown in the pictures.

These locomotives originally had Westinghouse generators and traction motors.

See it in service here (small clip of Santa Fe film at ending):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQcW3szvYGM

Or Here (complete but appears to have distorted aspect ratio):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qTti-puUEs

PC

The optometrist I used to go to, also had a company that imported brass HO gauge trains. He once showed me a B&O cast herald that he had acquired with the "crease" of the type shown on EA #51. I am now wondering how many of those "creased" B&O heralds would have been required? The later E units would have had "smooth" noses and not required that crease.

Les

I saw the locomotive just before it rolled out of the B&O Museum's Restoration Shop. It looked wonderful. Kudos to the restoration crew, who did an outstand job. Truly a "museum-grade" job." As I understand it, basically an in-house job. Great job, guys!

G.F.Payne
B'more

It really shows the versatility of the B&O restoration facilities. It’s not just the medieval (joke, it’s not actually medieval) stuff they’re capable of restoring but also the more modern stuff. The restoration on #51 is beautiful.

Given that they’re done with the collection in the roundhouse, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them tackle a cosmetic restoration of say the C&O 490, or perhaps one of the more modern B&O locos.

Hmmm. Another thread shows next year is EMC's 100th anniversary. And here is the first production-model road locomotive freshly restored.

The EA-EB sets ran through overnight from Washington to Chicago with B&O 5, the Capitol Limited, then went back to Washington the same afternoon on B&O 6. A competing road, committed to steam or electric, used up to 1 electric and 8 steam engines (4 doubleheaders) from WAS to CHI on a similar schedule.

Note: EMC built 5 box cabs before 51 but I wouldn't describe them as production models. One was B&O 50, now at the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood MO, near St. Louis.

Phil Mulligan

There are a lot of activities now going on in the background that relate to the EMC/EMD 100th Anniversary, people are busy developing projects for next year. I do not know if the restoration of this locomotive was specifically planned to interface with the anniversary activities, but they have done a really nice job with this and it is great that it was completed at this time.

The EA locomotives figured in Jim Boyd's article series (in Railfan & Railroad Nov. 1984 - Jan. 1985) and lecture program "The Men Who Styled the Streamliners" and in many other published history articles on the EMC/EMD passenger locomotives.

PC

Interestingly, B&O 51 follows Otto Kuhler's streamlining of B&O P-7a 4-6-2 5304 when it was streamlined for the 1937 rebuilt heavyweight Royal Blue. The Royal Blue color ("Bando Blue") with the black band lined with yellow and the Capitol herald in a circle on the front comes directly from 5304. That said, I'm sure EMC's styling department deserves a great deal of credit for adapting Kuhler's work from steam to a carbody diesel.

5304 was replaced on the Royal Blue by an EA-EB set and was destreamlined in 1940 only to be resttreamlined in 1947 along with 5301, 5302 and 5303 for the Cincinnatian with streamlining by Ms. Olive Dennis, in a style similar to Kuhler's work.

5300, the original P-7 and never streamlined, is at the B&O Museum in Baltimore.

Phil Mulligan

The styling of the EA locomotive carbody (the body styling, not the paint scheme) is credited in the design patent to Hal Hamilton, Richard Dilworth, Martin Blomberg, Leland Knickerbocker, and Chris Klein. If you look carefully at the portion of the nose forward of the raised cab, it closely follows the curvatures and angles (including the 20 degree back slope) of the nose of the original Burlington Zephyr designed by Earl Ragsdale. Classic, familiar, and friendly streamlined styling. Its immediate design predecessor was a very ugly and boxy cab built as a mockup, which fortunately did not make it into production.

PC

B&O #50 also still has its original Winton engines, as does a B&M gas-electric car at the museum. I've never been inside them so I can't say more about the condition of the engines.