E8 or E9 Question?

[Anonymous]

I was looking at the pictures on the back of Trains Magazine. There are some pictures of some E8's or E9's (I can't tell the difference.) There is a small door under the headlight. What is this door used for? Is this how the engineer enters the train?
TIM ARGUBRIGHT

[edblysard]

Hi Tim,
The crew enters the engine from the sides, using the ladders and doors just behind the side windows of the cab. The door in the nose is to allow passage from one locomotive to another, when they are run in a consist, or MU'ed(multiple unit) together. It also allows access to the head light, both upper and lower, if so equiped, and the number boards.
And the E8 and E9 have identical exteriors, only slight engine and electrical differences.
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[eolafan]

One true way to tell the E8 from the E9 (unless the E9 is an upgraded and modified E8 brought up to E9 specs) is that the E9 will have the headlight casing using a flush metal seal rather than the more protruding or rounded seal on the E8, next time you can look at close-up pictures of the noses of these two units and see what I mean.

[Anonymous]

Those "nose doors" mentioned, were indeed for crew passage between A-A, nose to nose configurations. One very sinister purpose that those nose doors also served, was the almost certain death of the engine crew, if they struck an oil, or gasoline truck at a grade crossing. It would take the fingers of both of my hands to add up the fatalities incurred by just the crews of Amtrak pass. trains when an SDP-40-F hit an oil truck. The E-units were equipped with similar "inward opening" nose doors, but the shape of the front of the E-unit allowed grade crossing wreckage to be swept aside. The SDP-40-F, however, had what was called an "anti-climber" on the front. When that locomotive hit something, it effectively "locked" it on to the front of the locomotive. Not so bad if it's just a stray piece of debris, but REAL BAD if it's a fully loaded 5,000 gal. tank truck of crude oil. Just check out what happened at Marland, OK. in 1978.
Todays "wide cabs" have front doors that swing outward, rather than inward. This, alone has saved more lives of railroaders than I can count.
The worse possible scenerio, though, hitting an LPG truck. Even with NO front door, you're toast. Now how about those 4-way gates they keep promising??? They will really help, but as always, there's going to be some idiot........
Todd C.