There is a thread urging the manufacture of an E5 from Kato. The proponents suggest making their wishes known to Kato via their "suggest a model" page from the website. Why limit to the E5 when the EA, E1, E2, E4 and E3 would be welcomed by many? I would favor an E1 but that would not please everyone. The E3 was used by the most roads and might be a better starting place with the others to follow. E6 thru E9 have pretty much been covered by Kato and others but some could be done better. So if models are to be considered why not make your choice known? Using Kato's "suggest a model" could be used for the other EMD E-units for whatever value, if any, would be attained. Stating your favorite here might shed some light on preferences also. The thread on "Most Popular Roads" revealed the interesting diversity that exists. I suspect the same might be true for E-units. What is your favorite? Ben
I think getting a major manufacturer to do E1 to E5 is going to be hard since they were road specific engines.
Kato seems to be doing railroad specific stuff anyways, so I think the E5ABA and Denver Zephyr could happen. They just do more than one run with different numbers on them. But E7 should be easily done. No difference between a passenger car lid and a engine lid. There should be a frame made for the eariler E-units if not the E8 frame. E-UNITS!!!!!!!!!
None of them would be for me, since the Pennsy only had E7s and E8s. And I have a nice ABA set of PCM E7a and 3 E8A by Kato. So I think that's it for me.
Being that I am a B&O fan, EA's for me but I wouldn't mind the E5 to pull my Zephyr. I'm sure the Santa Fe early E's would be popular also although they are available as a resin shell from JNJ I believe.
Well, maybe not. The GG-1 should have opened the door to overcoming the road specific argument. The various units EA thru E5 break down as follows. A number of these lend themselves to consideration because they were unique, as do the trains they pulled: EA: B&O Royal Blue, Capital Limited, National Limited E1: ATSF Super Chief, El Capitan E2: UP, CNW & SP City of San Francisco: UP, SP City of Los Angeles E3: ACL, ATSF, CNW, CRI&P, FEC, KCS, MoPac and UP E4: SAL E5: CB&Q, C&S, FW&D Ben
My answer would be "all of them." Of course, I would be partial to the E5. All of those early E units were gorgeous, with the long slanted nose that spelled S-P-E-E-D even while standing still. I remember that IC still had a pair of E6's running at the time of Amtrack. Wouldn't those look great in that fantastic Orange/Brown IC paint scheme on the front of a "City of New Orleans?" I have a hunch that Kato will do that scheme at some point.
I would have to say... Kato built E7's then E2's. Although putting LL shells on Kato mechs is not to tough. Wolf
Whatever suits my fancy, and at present that would be all of them. I can't have enough E & F Units and throw in some steam for a nice mixture.
There are those who assert that the EA and E-1 are the same locomotive. Are there any major spotting differences? If not, I am surprised that no one will do one, as ATSF does sell. Depending on whom you ask, B&O is either a first or second tier road. It is a popular road for cab units in the as delivered Blue and Grey scheme. Did any other road re-build its E-6s into E-8s? B&O did, it kept the pointy nose, but replaced the chicken wire with grilles and added some fans. If any road did rebuild theirs, was it in a fashion similar to B&O, or another fashion? EAs and E-6s for me. LL did the E-6 in plastic frame. Nice locomotive, but I would not mind a split metal frame E-6, especially a rebuilt-into-E-8 B&O E-6, as they started to appear in my modelling era.
The Santa Fe E1's were a boxcab similar to B&O #50. The first streamlined E's for Santa Fe were the E3's. The E3 is closer to an E6 than anything. Below is a picture comparing the EA to the E3. The B&O EA's are unique in that they had a flushed in headlight and markers in the front. The horns were even streamlined. There is nothing wrong with the Life Like E6's. I wish they would re run them with the split frame E8 mechanism under them but even the plastic frame loco's run better than average. They will pull anything and freewheel pretty well. I have some that I plan to turn into an EA EB set eventually.
What N scaler could resist buying one of those if Kato made them? That Warbonnet is absolutely a "must have."
You're thinking of boxcabs 1 & 1A, "Amos & Andy". Santa Fe's E1's of 1937/38 were indeed streamlined and introduced the warbonnet scheme as well as streamlining to the ATSF. The units, (8A & 3B units) were rebuilt by EMD into E8m's in 1952/53, though probably not much of the original units remained. I don't have any photos of the E1's to post but I'm sure someone does. I have a brass AB set of E1's produced by Hallmark some years ago but I'd buy early Santa Fe E units if they had the road specific detailing like the small number board above the windshield. Also on my wish list is a DL-110, the B unit for the DL-109.
I found some photographs of the EA and E-1. The major spotting difference appears to be the side windows. The EA has two three window sets on each side. There is one rectangular sandwiched between two rounded windows in each set. In addition, there appears to be a single rectangular window to the left (as you face it) of the middle door. The E-1 has two three window sets on each side, as well. The windows are larger than those of the EA and are all rectangular. There is a single rectangular window toward the back of the unit. The paint job that ATSF applied to its E-1s make the windows appear to be five panel with the ends rounded, but the 'rounded end windows' are merely painted-on decorative flairs. I suspect that if someone did these in plastic, the manufacturer would choose to model the ATSF prototype and try to fudge something on the B&O. IM might be an exception, as it seem to like modular construction. There is a possibility of using panels where the windows are and simply swapping out one for the other. ATSF had Amos 'n' Andy reworked over the years, finally causing them to be rebuilt into E-8Bs in the early 1950s. Louis Marre remarked that the major component to survive all of that shopping was likely the Accounting Department Card. I agree, there is nothing wrong with the LL E-6. When LL first introduced their plastic frame with flywheel E-8, I suspected that it was trying to carve a niche for itself in the market as a 'value for your dollar' manufacturer. The LL plastic frame passenger cabs had eighty-five per-cent of the performance of the Kato for sixty-five per cent of the list price. The performance of the LL plastic frame passenger cabs was, and is still, up to current performance standards. Still, I would not mind a split metal frame unit, so that I could get the other fifteen per cent.
Here is a similar view of E1 for comparison to EA. http://www.sdrm.org/roster/diesel/emd/history/e1-4.jpg Ben
Santa Fe's Boxcabs were custom built. 1 & 1A (a/k/a 1A& 1B, a/k/a the 1-Spot Twins, a/k/a Amos & Andy) were not E-1's. Their close relatives were B&O #50 and the EMC demonstrator that spent much time working on the ATSF as the 1C. To my knowledge Kato has never produced and marketed an E-6. I would like to see the E-3, E-6, and E-1 from a manufacturer producing a quality drive that is DCC compatible. These units though are really only appropriate if we can also have the correct or accurate enough cars for them to pull.
Hear, hear! Hard to have one without the other. The B&O trains that I have only seen in photos were magnificent in Blue. I had thoughts of bidding on one of the brass sets but had nothing for motive power. And I am naturally partial to Super Chief-2, the original lightweight consist pulled by E1 L&A (A&B) units. Ben
