E6 VS E8 VS ....

Models E, E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, and E6 had the longest, or much more pointed nose. The E7 model was the first "E" model to have the "F" type "bull dog" nose, which was carried through the E8 and E9 models also.

Actually, the E2 was not the 'pointed' or 'shovel'-nosed style of the other early E's.  Rather it was a unique long bulbous nose...never repeated...built only for the jointly run "City" trains of the UP/SP/CNW, and only in 2 ABB sets...

FWIW, always...

KD

Good, and thanks. I had forgotten about those E2 odd-balls.

Thank you Hot Water and KD.

Now the question is does (did) MTH make any E3's in Premier lately? Guess I'll go take a jaunt to their website and see. That new E8 in Santa Fe is striking.

uh oh - I just checked and sure enough in the last catalog are the Santa Fe Premier E6's. Great, now in addition to a paper route I'll have to start delivering pizza.

Paul

I feel you man!  The PRR E8's arrival just blew my budget out.  Even worse, I HAD a set that I had converted from conventional to PS2 - and I sold them, for reasons I'm still trying to figure out... I'm sure it made sense at the time....

MOVED...

Yeah, the earlier all had a sloping longer nose, and I'm not a fan. Its probably just because of what I saw as a kid.  But its just E7s through E9s for me.  

Don't forget the EA

Then there was this little thing. I guess you could say it was the prototype of the Railking line from MTH - a bit smaller and squished up, but with the same general features:

http://digital.denverlibrary.o...15330coll22/id/45468

Esthetics aside, the steep slanting nose designs of the E3, E4, E5, and E^ types had to go, when railroads wanted to MU larger consists and SOMETHING had to be coupled up to that "pointy pilot/nose" design. Plus, with railroads wanting doors in that long nose, thus came the design change to the E7 and its Bull Dog design nose & pilot.

If I'm not mistaken, the gearing of the E6's allowed for speeds at 100mph.

One of the many trips I took from Raleigh, NC to Jacksonville, FL, while standing at the end of the train with the conductor watching the tracks flying under our feet, I asked how fast he thought we were going (we were behind schedule). He said about 100mph. The SCL Silver Star used E6's (elephant style).  

EMC/EMD offered varying gear ratios for speeds up to 118 MPH for any of the E type units. Thus it was not uncommon for the ACL to attain speeds of 120+ MPH on the various E units assigned to passenger service.

Which is just the opposite of the memory burned into my floppy disk!...

The summer sojourn from Washington, D.C. to Lacrosse, WI to visit Mom's relatives...  Just as the setting up of Dad's 366W set around the Christmas tree was the genesis moment of toy trains for me, that memorable walk...no RUN!!...up the platform at behind Mom, the Red Cap, and my two sisters at Grand Central Station in Chicago as our B&O Columbian leg of the trip came to an end, and looking back to see that b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l E6 blue/gray snout...albeit a tad dirty from the cross-country race...sealed the iconic image for me of what a sleek, stylish diesel locomotive should look like. 

Then there was the parade of trains at the Burlington station in Lacrosse.  Mom rented a bicycle for me so I could ride to the station from my aunt's house to watch trains. The most beautiful train of them all was the shiny Twin Cities Zephyr with an E5 on the point.  It simply glistened in the sun, like the Greek god, Zephyrus, from which its name had been born.

Another favorite, of course, is the truly iconic Warbonnet early E's of the Santa Fe...E1,-3,-6.  Never saw one up-close-and-personal, but every photo, film clip, and model has dropped the jaw and drawn a stare for me.  Whoo boy!

TEHO, of course.

KD

For anyone looking to improve their E unit diesel spotting skills, take a look at Jeff Wilson's E Units--Electro-Motive's Classic Streamliners, Kalmbach Publishing Co., Waukesha, WI (2002).  Very straightforward, and brief, descriptions of the evolution of the E unit models are accompanied by photos and illustrations.  And many prototype B&W photos are included--in fact, the book consists primarily of these prototype photos.

I'm a big admirer (& collector) of the E8s and I think the City of San Francisco (E5or6) by MTH is one of most beautiful trains in my stable, but when I look at the ACL, Champion E3 down in the Spencer shops I drool.  You look at that baby and it says, "100mph+"

The January 2015 Trains calendar has a picture of ATSF #15 E Unit.  Does anyone know E?.  It has the shovel snout.

With a high road number like 15, it probably is an E6A. Doesn't Trains give a description of the photo? They are usually pretty good about their photo descriptions.

#15 is an E6A and was also Santa Fe's last E6.  Santa Fe had only two E3's, 11L and 11A.

Rusty