Here is a photo showing them still on in August of 1947. http://digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/63225/rec/75
No, they are molded into the one piece truck frame as are the non-roller bearing brass journal boxes. May as well swap out the entire truck.
It seems to have had a dented front coupler door for much of its life. Here it is in the mid 1950s still with black stripes on the nose. This was taken in Wichita Falls, Texas in front of the MKT depot. No skirts on the trucks but still no roller bearings.
The BN/BNSF fixed it for IRM when they did heavy maintenance in exchange for some appearances. I want to say for the 150th Anniversay in 2000 but I don't have my issues of Rail & Wire to check on to be sure. Andy Tetsu Uma
I'm new to Trainboard and thought I'd make my first posting a review of the E5/Silver Streak Zephyr I picked up on Monday. To list the pros and cons: Pros: --Plastic detail on the E5 is beautiful. The framework showing through the chicken wire grills is particularly impressive, better than on the Kato F3s and way better than on the Broadway E6-E7s. The stirrup steps are much more delicately rendered than the "fat" stirrups on the other Kato E and F units. The painting is very crisp. --The E5 runs like a, well, it runs like a Kato. Very good slow speed performance. I bought two DC E5s--the one in Silver Streak set with the skirting on the trucks, one without--and on my test track they ran at almost exactly the same speed. (By the way, the skirting is not removable--it's molded as a single piece with the truck.) Cons: --What's with Kato and the yellow headlights? For a manufacturer that does such good work, it surprises me that so many of Kato's headlights just don't look right. This one is that same yellow color that characterized headlights in the 1990s Kato E units, as opposed to the too-blue tint of the SF E8 I purchased 4-5 years ago. I'll probably live with it, but that seems like it would be an easy one to get right. --Tony Hines is right. On the parallel thread about Kato bringing out an E6, he was complaining about the molding line along the nose of the E5. Yes, it's there. You don't see it from all angles, but you do see it. I probably would not have noticed it for awhile if he had not mentioned it and it does not ruin the engine for me, but I'd prefer if it wasn't there. Seems like it would be easy for Kato to fix in future runs (but, then, it seems the headlight color would be an even easier fix). --Finally, my big complaint (obsession?): the Silver Streak Zephyr cars, like so many N-scale passenger cars, couple waaay too far apart. As I see N-scale trains pass by, I imagine N-scale people making flying leaps from car to car on their way to the dining car (or, worse, on their way back back from the bar car). I understand the problem of wanting to build trains that will go around sharp curves, but Kato dealt with this problem beautifully on its Daylight, whose couplers adjust to two settings. With short-shank coupling my Daylight runs with bulletproof reliability around Ntrak curves--seems like Kato could have come up with a similar solution on subsequent releases, but it hasn't insofar as I know (at least on the Super Chief and El Cap, which I own). For what it's worth, the search for a way to reduce coupling distance is how I discovered TB in the first place. A query about how to reduce coupling distance between Kato F-units pointed me to a answer supplied by John Sing, which has worked well for me. So thanks to Trainboard for that. Respectfully, Rick Ehrenreich (aka SF Chief)
I found my copy of The Tragedy at the Loomis Street Crossing and the photos show 9910A (Silver Speed) and 9910B had side skirts when they telescoped the last car of the Advance Flyer in April 1946.
I am guessing if you found a photo of them after the damage was repaired you would find them sans skirting!! Would be fun to research.
Stunning!!! I now have these in hand, and as far as I am concerned, they are absolutely perfect. While not the ultimate authority, I have studied these outstanding locomotives both in person (Silver Pilot at IRM and on the road countless times) as well as through a large collection of CB&Q books and on line photos. I don't know what others are seeing (or not seeing) in the noses, and I really don't care. I think Kato nailed the nose as well as any manufacturer has ever done with E or F units. Even at highly uncommon angles such as the attached photo that I took at Galesburg in 1998, the things just look perfect. Thanks Kato!!
Jack... THE Wife got hers today too. She bought just the'Silver Speed' locomotive. She loves it !!! She is pulling an old consist of passenger cars I got from BarstowRick a few years back. She wont even let me run it yet !! :-( She still out there...in pig heaven so to speak..>LOL. She has told me that HER Locomotive does NOT stay on the layout ! She is gonna put it back in the jewel case and keep it in her bedroom untill she wants to run it again. So much for cooperation between CFO and CEO...R O F L M A O !!! As long as it makes her happy...I'm happy. But I like it too....think it looks cool/awesome !!! BTW...the only thing that i see is the mold line on the hood...and only because I have read that it is a mold line not really part of hood on the 1:1. But really...I cant see it unless I am 6 inches from it...and I dont sit that close when it goes "Speeding" by
Sounds like you'll need to pick up a Silver Pilot so as to have a chance to run one yourself. I think those mold lines are typical of Kato's process and, as you say, nobody can see that when it is where it belongs (i.e. on the layout vs. up close under bright light). This is without a doubt my favorite N scale release ever, and there isn't another prototype out there that I would rather have. I think these things are going to sell as fast as Kato can make them, which hopefully will convince them to make the matching B unit. Maybe even a twin cities Zephyr is in the future....
A powered B unit would be really nice ! She has a an old B unit (unpowered). Speed matching/consisting...mmmmmmmmmmmm...another challenge...lol
In my opinion, it was just a bunch of venting by some who don't like Kato. That's fine for them; I'm just delighted with the E5.
