Strange,
Long thought E stood for the Eeeeeeeeeee! Railfans squealed when they first saw them.
(anyone buying this??)
E meant 1800 horsepower and F meant 1400 horsepower (1350 rounded up).
What confusion? It was Six and Nine, and I thought the common-sense designation of switchers by horsepower is where the Winton engine naming convention for EMDs actually got established...
Just to add to the confusion, consider the various Winton-powered switchers: S=600 hp, N=900 hp, C=cast underframe, W=welded underframe.
I am not quite sure how a Ford anything could affect EMD (which was a 'division' of rival GM, a company using a different scheme entirely to distinguish open-bed pickups from vans) or how either system would apply to the period in the 1930s that EMD developed the E and F conventions...
Or where a distinction between 'freight' and 'cargo' comes from, let alone has anything to do with a difference between F and E units.
The early E needed two prime movers (rcdrye knows these were 201A and then 567, not "EA" which was an early designation of E-unit) to make its 1800hp, therefore also needed six axles to handle the added weight and length, but only four of them needed to be motored. Most railroads would be fine with the V16 1350hp 'units' (and you should by now have seen the problem with 'F' being fifteen hundred; the drawbar FT being 2700hp but, as I recall, Santa Fe tinkering with some single cabs before the union issue over crews on MU locomotives erupted).
We have had some very detailed threads on this subject in the past.
I thought the F stood for 1500HP.
Designations got strange sometimes. UP 844 is an "FEF" class. That stands for "four eight four..."
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
While "F" really did stand for "Freight" in the FT's designation, the "E" comes from "Eighteen Hundred Horsepower" which is what you got with two twelve-cylinder Winton EA engines, used in the first E-units. In the contemporary TA, built for Rock Island, the "T" stood for "Twelve Hundred Horspower", the output of a 16 cylinder 201-A.
Forgive me... I have just answered my own question. Nevermind! [:-)]
The Beaverton, Fanno Creek & Bull Mountain Railroad
"Ruby Line Service"
.I'm not sure this has enough to do wiht trains, but I am curious...
It seems that "F" for cargo and "E" for freight isn't unique to EMDFord has their F150 truck, and the E150 passenger van.
F450 heavy truck and E450 shuttle van.
Much like EMD's F7 and E7, F9 and E9.
Coincidence, or is there a reason for this. I know EMD was connected to the automotive industry in a way.
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