I'm looking at buying a new locomotive to pull some of my heavyweights and the occasional freight. I know this question is all a matter of opinions but I just wanted to see what people thought.
It boils down to doing whatever makes you happy. I don't recall the E-8 in straight freight use, but it probably did happen. We do know for certain the PA units did see some freight use in their later lives- A video I once viewed, showing Erie Lackawanna units, comes into mind.
Depending on the road it could have been either. Place your money and take your choice of locomotive.
You might consider buying F-series locomotives in an A-B or A-B-B-A configuration. The F-series locomotives pulled more passenger trains than the E-series on Class-I railroads from the mid-1950s well into the 1970s. In fact the Santa Fe used nothing but F-series locomotives for the Super-Chief, El Capitan, and other named trains.
it did on the SP, and was a failure.... http://espee.railfan.net/nonindex/e-unit_photos/6050_sp-e9-cliff_west.jpg F Units would be the most likely locos to be used for freight and passenger use (for cab units).The Southern Pacific kept all of their E's (except for 2 for about 3 months) and their PA's in passenger service. They had F7A's with passenger controls and F7B's with steam generators that were primarly used in the freight pool
Pennsy used PA's for freight service at the end of their lives as did the LV if you're looking for more options.
I'm sorry, I forgot to say that I'm doing sp and atsf in the 50s. I'm just torn between what would look better pulling five heavyweights.
EL E8s: http://www.railpictures.net/images/d1/3/4/3/1343.1336939964.jpg EL PAs: http://www.ejearchive.com/photos_louis_c/35.jpg from this page: http://www.ejearchive.com/page_photos_louis_c.html
