Greetings!
Has anybody ever seen any evidence of FP7 units running with E-units?
Pardon the intrusion, if this was already answered, but I have searched for this for a while now, and found nothing about my question anywhere. I hope I am not having selective blindspells :)
Amtrak apparently used a variety of combinations in lash-ups, that mixed up either E-units, or FP7 units, with SDP40F, and there are also a lot of images of F40PH hooked up with SDP40F. There seem however to be no images or discussion confirmation about FP units running with E-units.
Both FP-units and E-units being EMD passenger types with steam and similar or almost identical gearing, that should have worked and been a viable combo. The multiple-unit controls should have been no obstacle either to coupling FP7 and E8/E9, as both were spotted with SDP40F units, leading to the assumption the controls were all compatible.
The question occurs due to the ridiculous used junk-models fetch nowadays, while brand new Kato FP7A and F7B units, as well as E8/9A and B, are still available at prices lower than practically all of the used gear that is not total waste-bin stuff. I bought two extra (have ABA set with Olympian Hiawatha), and am thinking "rainbow trains" with a simple repaint job (even though I hate to ruin the beautiful orange MILW scheme).
BTW: I am new here. Long story how I came up with GoatBuddy, but there is this busted (really badly cracked) N-model shell of an old ConCor Budd RDC-2 (came as part of a set of 3), and a fantasy paint scheme using GN colours, to cover the cracks and turn it into "Billie's Goat Diner" somewhere on my never finished layout. Heck, if it turns out OK, I might even run it as a "local tourist diner on the track" :)
https://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=61655
sp FP7. Leading. e unit e unit Milwaukee yellow FP7 trailing. Amtrak no 5. In rainbow colors to boot.
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
You might be having a hard time finding photos of such a lash-up just because it appears Amtrak didn't have that many FP-7s and/or they got rid of many that they had fairly early on. According to my 1982 Kalmbach "Diesel Locomotive Rosters" book, at that point Amtrak had 55 E-units of various types, but only 2 FP-7s.
But to turn your question around - was there any reason Amtrak couldn't use E and FP units together? Answer is "no". Any railroad's repair/maintenance shops could easily adjust engine gearing so all the passenger units were set up to run the same way. Both were passenger engines so had the proper connections to m.u. with each other. They would also have connections for their steam boilers to provide heat/steam to the passenger cars (although by 1982 some E-units had been converted to provide head-end power (HEP) instead.) There's no reason they couldn't have run together.
wjstix You might be having a hard time finding photos of such a lash-up just because it appears Amtrak didn't have that many FP-7s and/or they got rid of many that they had fairly early on. According to my 1982 Kalmbach "Diesel Locomotive Rosters" book, at that point Amtrak had 55 E-units of various types, but only 2 FP-7s. But to turn your question around - was there any reason Amtrak couldn't use E and FP units together? Answer is "no". Any railroad's repair/maintenance shops could easily adjust engine gearing so all the passenger units were set up to run the same way. Both were passenger engines so had the proper connections to m.u. with each other. They would also have connections for their steam boilers to provide heat/steam to the passenger cars (although by 1982 some E-units had been converted to provide head-end power (HEP) instead.) There's no reason they couldn't have run together.
According to the Amtrak roster in issue #43 of Extra 2200 South Amtrak had 14 FP7s. All were of Southern Pacific heritage and all tended to operate on SP lines. The Amtrak numbers were #110-123.
Ed in Kentucky
Some were leased back to the S-P:
A W O L From Amtrak by Kevin Cavanaugh, on Flickr
Early Morning Platinum Mist by Kevin Cavanaugh, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
Thank you!
railfans are a quirky lot. many wouldn't waste film on early diesels as we were mostly steam fans. Same with early Amtrak. Most viewed it as an abombination and Amtrak threw competitors engines on our railroads that was an insult and not worthy of acceptance
Being an SP fan, I couldn't resist picking up some of the nicely done Genesis SP FP7's with the icebreakers on the roof.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Hi there, I believe I have a slide taken in January 77 in Portland OR at the Amtrak Station of a BN SD40, an FP7 and an E8 or 9 B unit. I will hunt through what I have (I did digitise it but the Portable HDD died),
PM me and I can send it direct to your email if you want it!
Cheers from Australia
Trevor
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ndbprrrailfans are a quirky lot. many wouldn't waste film on early diesels as we were mostly steam fans. Same with early Amtrak. Most viewed it as an abombination
Famed railfan/author/photographer Lucius Beebe sent a letter to David P Morgan, editor of Trains, proclaiming the end of railfanning when mainline steam died.
And Amtrak IS an abomiation, for many reasons - not just aesthetic.
Not sure about Amtrak, not really sure abourt the Milwaukee Road, either, but I sure hope they did run an E7 with an FP7 at least once just so I can save face.
Milwaukee Road E7-FP7 by Edmund, on Flickr
I've been building a bit of an Afternoon Hiawatha and now that I'm up to a dozen cars I thought I'd better get a little more power. Lombard Hobbies happened to have a good deal on an FP7 (and I found a Tip-Top-Tap lounge car there, too!) so I snagged it to bolster my motive power for the train.
Any C. M. St. P. & P. fans welcome to chime in
Regards, Ed
ndbprrRailfans are a quirky lot. Many wouldn't waste film on early diesels as we were mostly steam fans. Same with early Amtrak.
Not just railfans. Back in the 35mm film days, this shutterbug really had to choose carefully what to take a picture of. There is not much worse than seeing a beautiful building or landscape when you are out of film.
I wish I would have taken more pictures like this, that are less picturesque, but more interesting, back in the 1980s.
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
Now with my big high-speed memory card and multiple batteries, I can take 5,000+ pictures in a day with my DSLR. No worries.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
xdford Hi there, I believe I have a slide taken in January 77 in Portland OR at the Amtrak Station of a BN SD40, an FP7 and an E8 or 9 B unit. I will hunt through what I have (I did digitise it but the Portable HDD died), PM me and I can send it direct to your email if you want it! Cheers from Australia Trevor
I have not figured out how to do a PM here yet, but let me know, if you found anything :)
Could an image be attached into the thread as well?
later
Owen
Hi Owen,
I have not found it yet but if you send an email to railwaymodelleraustralia01@gmail.com I will forward it to you directly... after I digitise it!
Regards from Australia