UP E9 question

[Anonymous]

Thanks Don for your very informative answer, and also to dharmon for your accurate reply. I was pretty sure the sheild were a UP specific add-on, but I thought they had come much later than the mid 50's. Thanks Again!

[Anonymous]

This is from my web site, and from my UP 1934-1982 diesel roster book:

http://utahrails.net/up/diesels/up-diesel-story-1934-1982-c.php

EMD’s E8 differed in many features from the earlier E7 (and the very similar E3 to E6 models). The two prime movers were situated differently, with the main generators of the E8 facing outward toward the unit’s ends. The greatest feature difference was in the way the radiators were cooled. On the E7, radiator fans were belt-driven, and they were located at each end of the radiators, and below them, pushing the cooling air up through the radiators. The E7 used the same vertically-mounted 26-inch fans as the builder’s SW1 and NW2 switcher locomotives. On the E8 (and later E9), the 36-inch radiator fans were electrically driven, and mounted horizontally on the unit’s roof, above the radiators, pulling the cooling air through the radiators.

The air intake arrangement for the diesel engines was also different. On the E7s, the intake air entered the carbody immediately behind the cab, through a set of louvers. On the E8 and E9s, the intake air entered through a smaller opening behind the grille, and was pulled up through a duct into the rooftop winterization hatch by a 36-inch fan. This fan was mounted to pull air from the winterization hatch and push it into the engine roof through a filter box. The winterization hatch allowed the operating railroad to change (by use of a lever inside the locomotive engine room) the flow of intake air from direct outside air, to air that had been warmed by first passing through the radiators.

On Union Pacific, by early 1955, the E8s and E9s were experiencing cooling problems, and operating officials determined that the smaller opening on the side was restricting the amount of intake air available for the engine. The road’s solution was to cut an opening in the top of the winterization hatch, immediately above the reverse-mounted intake fan. Tests of this new configuration revealed that the new top opening allowed rain and snow to be pulled into the engine room, causing electrical grounds, since the electrical cabinet was located right below the intake filter box.

UP’s solution to this rain and snow problem was the road’s trademark “snowshields,” mounted above the extra opening in the winterization hatch. Snowshields were installed on the road’s E8 and E9 fleet, beginning in 1955-1956, and continuing through the late 1950s. Based on observations by railroad maintenance personnel, these snowshields may also have served to disrupt the air flow along the top of the units, much in the same way smoke lifters did on steam locomotives. This feature is unique to Union Pacific’s units, and only further research will reveal its original development and purpose. (See top view photo of a UP E unit before the modification in July 1956, in The Streamliner, Volume 8, Number 1, page 15.)

I hope this answers your question.

Don Strack

[dharmon]

They're snow shields covering the screen on the winterization hatches. I have no idea why E units would specifically need shielding of the hatches , unless it has something to do with that particular design. It seems to be a UP E unit thing.

[Anonymous]

Mr Hemphill: Thank You very much!

[Anonymous]

At the risk of sounding completely stupid, is there anyone who can tell me what the deflector-like sheilds on the top of UP E9 949 in the photo are for?

I'm talking about the objects located on the roof on each end, and the front one is just ahead of the air horns and just behind the amber beacon.
Also, does anyone know the function of the lights on the pilot? Are they ditchlites?