The EMC E2 was an American passenger-train
diesel locomotive which as a single unit developed , from two (2) prime movers. These locomotives were typically operated as a unit set (
A -
B -
B) or (
A -
B -
A); where the three unit lashup developed 5400 horsepower. This was almost the ideal horsepower required () for the tonnage of a 15 - 18 car passenger train, operated over the ruling grades of virtually all of the mileage between major American cities. The units were of the
A1A-A1A
The AAR wheel arrangement system is a method of classifying locomotive (or unit) wheel arrangements that was developed by the Association of American Railroads. Essentially a simplification of the European UIC classification, it is widely used in ...
wheel arrangement
In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...
, and manufactured by
Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC), later
Electro-Motive Diesel
Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its s ...
(EMD) of
La Grange, Illinois.
Two sets (each of three units, A-B-B) () were produced in 1937 for named
passenger trains; the first set (SF-1, SF-2, and SF-3) for the ''
City of San Francisco''. These motive-power sets were jointly owned and operated by the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
, the
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...
, and the
Southern Pacific Railroad. The second A-B-B set (LA-1, LA-2, and LA-3) was used for the ''
City of Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
''; and, was jointly owned and operated by the UP and CNW only. The first locomotive power unit was the control cab, or
"A" unit, while the other two were cabless boosters, or
"B" units. The control cab and booster units were designed for multiple unit operation (the first in diesel motive power). A single engine crew in the cab, remotely monitored and controlled all three motive power units from a single control station in the cab. The locomotives were
diesel-electrics with two 900 hp Winton 201-A engines each, with each engine driving its own
generator
Generator may refer to:
* Signal generator, electronic devices that generate repeating or non-repeating electronic signals
* Electric generator, a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy.
* Generator (circuit theory), an eleme ...
to power the
traction motor
A traction motor is an electric motor used for propulsion of a vehicle, such as locomotives, electric or hydrogen vehicles, elevators or electric multiple unit.
Traction motors are used in electrically powered rail vehicles ( electric multiple ...
s. In addition the locomotives contained steam generators for passenger car heating. An independent auxiliary diesel powered electric generator was housed in the first car of the train consist. This car was a combination power/baggage/post office, or crew dormitory. This car provided electric power for train-line "hotel" power for their named train set(s), to include the air conditioning, dining, lounge, and entertainment. The power cars were required for these train sets because of the electrical demand of their feature cars. The E2 was the third model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as
EMD E-units
EMD E-units were a line of passenger train streamliner diesel locomotives built by the General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) and its predecessor the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC). Final assembly for all E-units was in La Grange, Illino ...
.
The E2, along with the more-or-less simultaneous
EA/EB units for the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the
E1 units for the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...
, represented an important step in the evolution of the passenger diesel locomotive. While the EA, E1 and E2 were each built for a specific railroad and train, they were largely identical mechanically and were a step further away from the concept of custom-built motive power, integrated into a particular
streamliner; and towards mass-produced standardized locomotives. This transition was achieved with the
E3,
E4,
E5, and
E6, EMC (later EMD)'s next models.
Styling
![City of Los Angeles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/City_of_Los_Angeles.JPG)
The E2's profile was more aggressive than the sloping snouts of previous EMC passenger power, so they gained a "
bulldog nose" nickname. Subsequent blunt-snouted passenger units are sometimes also called this, but the E2's nose is by far the most bulbous among the E and F series locomotives. The seven porthole windows on the sides were one less than its predecessors in Union Pacific's diesel streamliner fleet, the
M-10003 to M-10006
The Union Pacific Railroad's M-10003, M-10004, M-10005, and M-10006 were four identical streamlined 2-car power car diesel-electric train sets delivered in May, June, and July 1936 from Pullman-Standard, with prime movers from the Winton Engine ...
. One of the nicknames that these locomotives acquired, because of these portholes and prominent nose, was "Queen Mary," after the
British Cunard liner had recently been put in service. The Union Pacific Railroad also referred to the schedule of the "City of San Francisco," a passenger train hauled by these locomotives, as sailings. Later E units for Union Pacific, including E7 locomotives, were ordered modified with extra porthole style windows. The units were painted in Union Pacific's Armour Yellow with Leaf Brown roofs and undersides, the same colors as UP's previous streamliners (the
M-10000
The M-10000 was an early American streamlined passenger trainset that operated for the Union Pacific Railroad from 1934 until 1941. It was the first streamlined passenger train to be delivered in the United States, and the second to enter regula ...
etc.). Color photographs indicate that UP modified their color scheme with slate gray roofs around mid-1941. There was extensive stainless steel on the noses, upon which were displayed the owning railroads' heralds in color. The bulbous nose and stainless steel ornamentation of the E2 evoked the nose design of the UP's M-10003 to M-10006 streamliner locomotives, which were also bulbous, featuring a large stainless steel grille and pilot ornamentation. UP's advertising from that era often had renditions of their locomotives emphasizing thei
bulbous and shiny noses
Replacement
All four "B" units (SF-2, SF-3, LA-2, LA-3) went to the Union Pacific; they were used until 1953, when they were "rebuilt" into
E8 locomotives. These rebuilds utilised little of the previous locomotives and were effectively trade-ins. The driving "A" unit of the SF set, SF-1, (the "Queen Mary") went to the Southern Pacific; it was likewise "rebuilt" into
EMD E7
The E7 was a , A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. 428 cab versions, or E7As, were built from February 1945 to April 1949; 82 booster E7Bs were built from March 1945 to Ju ...
#6017. The "A" unit of the LA set, LA-1, went to the Chicago and North Western (#5003A) and was scrapped in 1953 after it was destroyed in a head-on collision near
Rhinelander, Wisconsin
Rhinelander is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, Wisconsin, Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,285 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census.
History
The area that eventually became the city of Rhine ...
.
No E2 survives today. However the pair of Winton Model 201A V12 diesel engines from SF-1 (the lead unit of the City of San Francisco set, nicknamed "Queen Mary") were rescued from scrap and eventually became part of the collection of artifacts at the
California State Railroad Museum at Sacramento. One of the engines has now (September 2009) been transferred to the
Illinois Railway Museum
The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago.
Overview
Hist ...
at Union, Illinois.
See also
*
List of GM-EMD locomotives
The following is a list of locomotives produced by the Electro-Motive Corporation (EMC), and its successors General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD) and Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD).
Streamlined power cars and early experimental locomotive ...
References
*
*
*
* Reich, Sy (1973). ''Diesel Locomotive Rosters – The Railroad Magazine Series'', pp. 113, 114. Wayner Publications. No Library of Congress or ISBN.
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Strack, Don. ''Union Pacific Diesel Painting Guide''. Retrieved from the Union Pacific Historical Society's site at http://www.uphs.org/Dieselpaint.htm on December 19, 2004.
*
External links
North East Rails EMD E2-6 Engine Photos
{{EMD cab and cowl
Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States
Union Pacific Railroad locomotives
A1A-A1A locomotives
E2
Passenger locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1937
Locomotives with cabless variants
Scrapped locomotives
Standard gauge locomotives of the United States
Streamlined diesel locomotives