When the EMC (EMD) FT units were originally released in 1949, I believe they all had the same style of 'nose' number board which essentially had a marker light followed by the small number board parallel to the car body. The Rio Grande decided to change the orientation of these number boards to match their new F3 units in 1952... along with repainting them into the 4 stripe Prospector scheme. I was wondering if any other railroads either altered there number boards or if later versions of the FTs had the angled number boards. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
A few other railroads did change the style or location of the FT numberboards. http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/wp/wp909Ajpa.jpg http://espee.railfan.net/nonindex/f-unit_photos/0923_ssw-ft-rob_sarberenyi.jpg
Thanks Point353... I would like to get a list of railroads which either altered the number boards or got customized number boards for their FT units. Perhaps... if there are enough similarly altered FT units... a company like Intermountain Railway may run the different version of their FT units. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
EMD released the FT locomotives starting in 1939 not 1949. Probably just a typo on your part as those phone buttons are not very big. As a plus in looking up when they were made I learned that the "F" did not stand for 'Freight' as one might think but rather for 'fourteen' meaning 1400 horsepower (actually only 1350 but rounded up) The 'T" stood for 'twin' as they were sold as a coupled unit. I never knew what FT stood for. Always learning something even in my old age.
And the F-3 was out of production by 1952, but yeah, my phone buttons are tiny tpp--I mean tii--TOO. Ready to learn something else? E stands for Eighteen, reflecting the horsepower of the early 201-A engine versions sold to the B&O, ATSF and UP. Also, many FT units (all of the Santa Fe units, for example) were model FS, for Single, as they had conventional couplers between the cabs and boosters. Those boosters have a fifth porthole on one side, near a hostler control stand. The idea is interesting, but there might be another problem. Some of the railroads that updated the look of their FTs didn't stop with the noses. Portholes and intake grills got modified too.
Thanks for the heads up on the the date for FT releases.... actually all of the EMC/EMD F units were introduced between 1939 and 1946. There were several alteration (phases) between and subsequent to that time range. It was not so much my finger... than my brain that malfunctioned on that initial post... Lol. So my concern is that I would love to have DRGW FT units with the angled number boards... but I don't want to mutilate any FT units to do that. Intermountain ran an ABBA set of FT's with the original number boards in the Prospector scheme... which sold out quickly... no others were planned. I hoped that Intermountain would eventually create FTs with angled number boards... but if only DRGW had these... it would never happen. This is looking like the kind of project only viable by 3D printing. Thanks for the input!!! Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
