WHat numbers? Here's 114C with clearly low fans
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=108430
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
The ones that have chicken wire grills. The ones Stewart did had chicken wire grills and low fans which are not correct. The one you showed was what a lot of people called an f5. Those are externally almost identical to an f7. If there are differences externally I am not aware of it.
The BAR had F3s with Chicken wire with both low and high fans. The first few came with high fans and some were modified with low fans through the shops. One number 42 kept the high fans through the 1970s.
Ron High
Early F3s had three windows like the prior F2 had. Later they switched to two like the later F7 and F9. As has been mentioned, things like fan placement or height, screening/louvers etc. changed as EMD made improvements. When EMD updated something they normally didn't keep producing the earlier version, so a railroad ordering F3s might in one year might get somewhat different looking engines than if they got another order of F3s the next years. It's like buying a 1957 Chevy BelAir and later buying a 1960 BelAir. Same model, but didn't look the same.
The carbodies of F2 through F9 units were essentially the same. Number boards were small on F2's and early F3's, but were replaced with large boxy ones on later F3's and subsequent deliveries. The F2's and early F3's had high fans, but late F3's and subsequent deliveries had low fans. Later, these were sometimes swapped in shopping. F2's and early F3's had flat panels with openings on the upper sides, often covered with chicken wire screening. Late F3's (sometimes referred to as F5's) and later deliveries had grilles over the upper side panels. That's an extremely oversimplified rundown. Don't forget to check the pilot. Many early F's were delivered with streamlined pilots instead of the common Bulldog pilot.
B&O's passenger F3 AB sets were delivered with high fans and streamlined pilots. Their freight F3's were delivered in AA sets with low fans and Bulldog pilots. When Stewart released the B&O F3 with high fans many years ago, I bought a few of them and replaced the high fans with low ones that I ordered from Stewart as replacement parts. It was a simple pop-in replacement.
Tom
This discussion of F-3 and F-7s reminds me of a photograph of Santa Fe's 263C I shot in Oklahoma City in 1974. It had the horizontal louvers of an F-7 between the portholes but the chicken wired carbody openings similar to an F-3 above them. The unit was in fact an F-7 built without the perforated grilles of most F-7s for what reason is unknown. It was part of a series of eight A-B-B-A sets numbered 260L,A,B,C-267L,A,B,C, which were built in the middle of the 202L,A,B,C,-280L,A,B,C group of F-7s. There have been EMD covered wagons that lost their grilles during their lives but these ATSF units were delivered with out them.
The most detailed information I could find is on Jim Fuhrman's web site:
http://trainweb.org/jfuhrtrain/CF7frames/F3F7F9.html
His main emphasis is the Santa Fe; however, he also has two pages of general EMD phase charts.
http://trainweb.org/jfuhrtrain/PhaseCharts.html
JW
Thanks JW
Jim Fuhrmans website added to favorites bar.
Thomas