EMD E7s and E8s

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Philcal

Kristian, I'm far from being an expert on the subject, but as I recall, none of the EMD E-series locomotives were big sellers on Canadian Roads. I think CN had two, possibly three E-8 units, and I'm not certain whether or not Canadian Pacific had any at all. For major passenger service, the major Canadian roads went the route several American railroads did, and used EMD F units for passenger service.

The only E's of any kind that were sold outside the United States were CP 1800-1802, which were E8A's built at La Grange. They spent much of their time on the Atlantic Limited.

[Anonymous]

Hi All,

After looking carefully at various photos of E7s and E8s, I can see that my idea is a non starter . I will now have to start budgetting for a Broadway CP E7.

All the best and happy Christmas,

Kristian.

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I have been doing a bit of research and have found the following :-

http://www.georgestrains.com/product_info.php?products_id=187-446

http://www.hankstruckpictures.com/cpr.htm

I was very impressd by these classic locos which look fantastic in CPR livery.

All the best,

Kristian.

[Philcal]

Kristian, I'm far from being an expert on the subject, but as I recall, none of the EMD E-series locomotives were big sellers on Canadian Roads. I think CN had two, possibly three E-8 units, and I'm not certain whether or not Canadian Pacific had any at all. For major passenger service, the major Canadian roads went the route several American railroads did, and used EMD F units for passenger service.

[Anonymous]

There are 2 below-the-floor differences between E7s and E8s which may have a bearing on the project.

E7s had separate fuel and water tanks between the trucks. Production E8s had one tank, which had an interior wall separating the fuel compartment from the water compartment, and also had 2 large, transverse-mounted air reservoirs (one fore, the other aft of the fuel/water tank).

The side doors to the engine rooms also were in different locations along the carbody, which resulted in different locations for the stirrup steps under these doors as between E7s and E8s.

I'm not sure if there was a difference in the distance between truck centers from one model to the other.

[RMax1]

Sometimes that is a good idea but be careful. Some companies will not sell you the shell. Lifelike for instance would not sell the shell to the Proto series and if you did manage to get one they would want your old shell in exchange. I'm not sure how Walthers will handle this now that they own the Proto Series.

RMax1

[ndbprr]

I would think the E8 would fit the e7 chassis with no problem. Sombody with both could answer that question quickly.

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the info. Perhaps I should explain what I hope to try and achieve. I picked up a very nice Broadway C&NW E7A at an adventageous price.
It is a fantastic model full of excellent DCC features.
However, I am first and foremost a Canadian modeller and the model would be of even greater value to me if I could have the option of being able to swap the shell between C&NW and CP.
I have been considering buying a CP E8 shell from Broadway and fitting it to the E7 chassis for use as required.
From the photos very kindly posted, the E7 and E8 chassis look much the same but more study is required in order to establish if there are any fundamental differences that would make the whole idea a non starter.

All the best,

Kristian.

[emdgp92]

Here are some photos. You didn't ask, but I thought you'd like to know about the E9s as well. I *think* the 9s were very similar to the 8s.

E7
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/pc/pc4035g.jpg
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ln/ln781.jpg

E8
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/pc/pc4320ags.jpg
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/metra/metra521agd.jpg
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/ln/ln788a.jpg

E9
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/metra/metra511ags.jpg
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/amtk/amtk427ags.jpg

Keep in mind that many E units lost their portholes in later years, and some E8s have flush numberboards, similar to those on E9s. I've seen some E8s mislabeled as E9s because of this. For example, the Penn Central didn't have E9s....but Amtrak, who ran ex-PC E units had both 8s and 9s.

[RMax1]

There is also a difference in rooftop details between the two.

RMax1

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

E7A's and E7B's have a vertical louver strip right behind the cab door and pairs of square windows along the flanks. E8/9A's and E8/9B's have circular porthole windows.

[Anonymous]

Hello All,

Are there any major external differences between an EMD E7 and an EMD E8 that would be noticable in HO ?

All the best,

Kristian.