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F7 number board assembly details

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  • Member since
    December 2009
  • From: Dayton, Ohio
  • 64 posts
F7 number board assembly details
Posted by bulldog_fan on Monday, January 2, 2012 8:12 AM

Hello, everyone.  I've been on the Model Railroader board for a while and had just posted a question there, but it might be more suited to this group.  That gave me the motivation to finally subscribe to Classic Trains, so I'm looking forward to my first issue.  And if there are any first-generation EMD nuts-and-bolts folks out there, I'd be glad for any assistance!

Through the magic of eBay, I acquired what I believe to be parts of a number board from MILW F7 108-A, and am curious about a couple of things.

The steel frame has separate channels for two inserts, one in front of the other.  Would the front one have been a clear protective cover?

There are two small holed drilled vertically down through the center of the flat top of the frame, and small free-rotating rollers protrude from the bottom of both left and right corners.  So it appears that removing pins or screws or something from the top would have allowed the frame to tip outward, rotating on those rollers, so number boards could be changed more easily.   I assume the outer sheet metal around the number board was removable.

The material of the board itself seems to be relatively modern translucent plastic of some sort.   What would they have originally been made of, in the 40s and early 50s?

Thanks very much, everyone!

Dean Vinson

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