The WWSL
I was fortunate to be a volunteer at the Shops while I was stationed at Fort Bragg North Carolina. Southern Railway E8 #6900 was one of the locomotives I had the opportunity to work on during my tour of duty with the Shops.
My plan is to kitbatch this locomotive and show it on a display shelf.
Prototype InformationThe entire carbody was changed to a truss construction for improved strength (visible whenever the side panels are removed in the shop). Also, the carbody was redesigned to a more streamlined appearance, with the cab set back and a stylish slant-nose ahead of it. Also, the trucks were changed to 3-axle A-1-A trucks, with two powered axles per truck with a non-powered idler axle in the center, which spreads the weight of the locomotive more evenly over the track and counteracts the tendency of trucks to oscillate at high speeds, which is a problem with 2-axle trucks.
These earliest E-Units had a very streamlined nose with a steeper front angle, and a variety of porthole/window styles and locations on the sides. By the time the E8s were in production, EMD had settled upon round portholes and, as on the earlier E7s, the rounded but slightly less-streamlined "bulldog" nose found on their primarily-freight F-Units.
General Motors Electro-Motive Division’s E8 locomotive was first delivered in August 1949, with production continuing through December 1953. These locomotives were, as usual on cab diesels such as these ("cab diesels" being those with full-width carbodies with internal walkways along the locomotive’s length, rather than walkways exposed to the elements as on "hood diesels"), constructed as "A Units" – those with a cab, and "B Units" – booster units without a cab. EMD produced 418 E8As and 39 E8Bs.
Southern Railway E8 #6900
The locomotive was built by Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in 1951. Originally numbered 2923, the E-8 was the first of seventeen units ordered by the Southern Railway. The E-8 had two 567-B 12-cylinder prime movers, developing a total of 2,250 horsepower. The Southern used the E-8s to pull passenger trains, including the Southerner, Crescent, Tennesseean and Royal Palm. The 6900 ended its career on the Southern pulling the Southern Crescent from Washington, DC to Atlanta, GA.
In 1976, the Southern paid tribute to the American Bicentennial with banners for the signers of the Declaration of Independence from the Southern's territory SOU 6900 Benjamin Harrison of Virginia. I have opted not to add that banner to this unit.
Engineering
The E8’s immediate predecessor was the E7, which was the first E-unit with the "bulldog" nose as opposed to the slanted nose. It also featured squared windows on the sides of the carbody, smaller screened areas above them and a large vertical louver just behind the cab. The roof has no radiator fans, but rather grilles flanking round exhaust stacks.
The E8s, however, looked quite a bit different:
- The "bulldog" nose from the E7s is essentially unchanged. Variations
on the cab/nose include a single headlight, or a signal light over a
headlight. Most E8As were built with flush numberboards, but protruding
numberboards (as on F-Units) were found on occasion,
- The pilot options include both flush pilots that share the contours
of the nose itself (often called "passenger pilots") or a pilot with a
recessed crease in it near the top (often called a "freight pilots"
because it was common on freight F-Units).
- The sides of E8s, both As and Bs, feature four round portholes, with the two outermost portholes openable. There is a full-length grille over the carbody openings along the top of the sides – these are more often than not fabricated of stainless steel, and can be either a series of horizontal bars with vertical supports roughly 2-feet apart, or Farr grilles with a series of three rows of vertical slots.
- The rounded roof features eight 36” radiator fans, although a pair of winterization hatches cover the two forwardmost and two rearward fans, leaving only four fans clearly visible. A pair of oval exhaust stacks are visible behind the two winterization hatches. Locomotives equipped with dynamic brakes for use on mountain grades also feature a 36” fan in the center of the unit (between the foreword radiator fans and the rear radiator fans, and between the two exhaust stacks). At the rear of the roof is a hatch with steam generator vents, of which there can be early style vents, or later vents that appear a bit more streamlined. Also, some engines have one set of vents, while others (which have two steam generators) feature two sets of vents.
- Between the two A-1-A three-axle trucks are the fuel and water tanks, which appear to be one tank (it has internal dividers). As built, the tanks have a scalloped sheet metal skirt above them, creating a seamless look between the body and the fuel/water tank. Air reservoirs are located fore and aft of the fuel/water tank. Some railroads removed the skirting later in order to ease maintenance.
The E9s look a lot like E8s, but there are a few differences:
- E8As and E8Bs are each 70’ 3” in length, from coupler face to coupler face. The truck centers are apart.
By the time the E8s were in production, EMD had settled upon round
portholes and, as on the earlier E7s, the rounded but slightly
less-streamlined "bulldog" nose found on their primarily-freight
F-Units. The E8 was such a classic design that the later E9s had the
exact same body, other than a headlight gasket and slight variation in
the side porthole rims having changed.
EMD E8A Built As: SOU 2923 (E8A)
Serial Number: 14172 Order No: 2039
Frame Number: 2039-A1 Built: 9/1951 from 2923.
SOUTHERN 2923, later Southern 6900, wrecked at Woodstock, Al
on11/25/1951. E8A’s 6900 led the second-to-last southbound SOUTHERN
CRESCENT to New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal on 30 January 1979 with
three E-units and ten cars.
Diagram
Specifications
Length 70’ 3”
Width
Height
Wheelbase 43-feet
Wheel diameter 40 in (1.016 m)
Trucks 3-axle A-1-A
Loco weight
Fuel capacity
Prime mover two 567-B
Engine type V12-cylinderTwo-stroke diesel
 |
| Southern Railway E8 #6900 |
Model Manufacturer: I am going to use an Proto 2000 E8/9 locomotive.
Project Process
I will kitbatch the kit, as a minimum upgrading the the handrails with brass parts, the couplers with Kadee No. 148 couplers, and adding additional details as appropriate.
Southern's E8s had their air reservoirs moved to the roof in the mid-1950s giving them this distinctive "torpedo tube" appearance. This is an additional detail to which I will have to add to the model.
Paint Scheme. Southern Railway E8 No. 6900 was painted in the
company's Crescent passenger paint
scheme (19xx). The entire body was Southern Crescent Green and Aluminum;
running gear was black. This was the paint scheme I helped reproduce
while I
was volunteering at the Spencer Shops.
Locomotive exterior:
Aluminum: 4 parts R-11 Reefer White 1 part R-12 Reefer Gray
Yellow 8 parts R-31 Reefer Yellow 1 part R-11 Reefer White
Frames, main and truck: Black VMA 71.xxx
Side Frame and Pilot: White with safety stripe on the pilot
Running gear, including wheels: Black
Cab interior: VMA 71.xxx
Lettering and Numbering Scheme
Decal. Lettering and logo
Champion EH-226 SR Diesel - Hood, bronze gold & green herald, bronze gold lettering
Weathering:
Assumption is the units were painted by the company after their
arrival, and units are in a very well maintained shape. No need to turn
the models into rust buckets.
Reference
- E8As and E8Bs are each 70’ 3” in length, from coupler face to coupler face. The truck centers are 43-feet apart.
- The "bulldog" nose from the E7s is essentially unchanged. Variations on the cab/nose include a single headlight, or a signal light over a headlight. Most E8As were built with flush numberboards, but protruding numberboards (as on F-Units) were found on occasion, such as on some of Rock Island’s E8As and Santa Fe’s E8Ms (which are extensively rebuilt E1A locomotives). E8Bs, of course, have no cab, and therefore no numberboards.
- The pilot options include both flush pilots that share the contours of the nose itself (often called "passenger pilots") or a pilot with a recessed crease in it near the top (often called a "freight pilots" because it was common on freight F-Units). E8Bs have no pilot.
- The sides of E8s, both As and Bs, feature four round portholes, with the two outermost portholes openable. There is a full-length grille over the carbody openings along the top of the sides – these are more often than not fabricated of stainless steel, and can be either a series of horizontal bars with vertical supports roughly 2-feet apart, or Farr grilles with a series of three rows of vertical slots.
- The rounded roof features eight 36” radiator fans, although a pair of winterization hatches cover the two forwardmost and two rearward fans, leaving only four fans clearly visible. A pair of oval exhaust stacks are visible behind the two winterization hatches. Locomotives equipped with dynamic brakes for use on mountain grades also feature a 36” fan in the center of the unit (between the foreword radiator fans and the rear radiator fans, and between the two exhaust stacks). At the rear of the roof is a hatch with steam generator vents, of which there can be early style vents, or later vents that appear a bit more streamlined. Also, some engines have one set of vents, while others (which have two steam generators) feature two sets of vents.
- Between the two A-1-A three-axle trucks are the fuel and water tanks, which appear to be one tank (it has internal dividers). As built, the tanks have a scalloped sheet metal skirt above them, creating a seamless look between the body and the fuel/water tank. Air reservoirs are located fore and aft of the fuel/water tank. Some railroads removed the skirting later in order to ease maintenance.
- Multiple Unit (MU) receptacles were added to the noses and rear ends of most E-Units as the technology for operating multiple engines in a consist evolved. MU receptacles were often placed in recesses behind hinged doors in the nose (which sometimes lost their doors in later years, leaving a recess in the nose with an MU receptacle in it) or were added to a protrusion on the nose with the receptacle mounted on that.
- Grabirons on the cab/nose or rooftops of E-Units often changed as railroads found that maintenance crews required easier access to, for example, the cab’s windshields for cleaning, with grabirons creating a ladder on either the left or right side of the nose. Some roads also included a "ladder grab" (with raised outer ends to hold a ladder in place without it sliding sideways) on one or both sides of the nose where it transitions from the side to the top. Other areas that often saw additional grabs added include the lower portion of the nose, just above the pilot’s anticlimber, above the cab sides (usually in tandem with a narrow walkway added to the side of the cab) and the rear corners of the roof (in order to provide maintenance workers when working on the steam generator vents).
- Some railroads added spark arrestors, which could consist of several variations, to the exhaust stacks of their E-units, particularly in railroads operating in dryer climates.
- Life rings, alternate headlights, blanked out portholes, removed skirting – these are all changes that occurred with some frequency by various railroads over time.
- Air horns changed depending upon each railroads’ preferences, with some utilizing a pair of single chime horns (with one facing forward and the other rearward), or their choice of 3- or 5-chime air horns from Nathan, Leslie or other manufacturers.
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