EMD E8

EMD E8
Rock Island E8 #652, operated by Midland Railway of Baldwin City, Kansas.
Power type	Diesel-electric
Builder	General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
Model	E8
Build date	August 1949 – January 1954
Total produced	449 A units, 46 B units
AAR wheel arr.	A1A-A1A
Gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Engine type	Two-stroke diesel
Cylinders	V12
Power output	2,250 hp (1,678 kW)
Disposition	most scrapped, several preserved

Inside Cab view. The Engineer / Operator position of an E8 Locomotive

The EMD E8 was a 2,250-horsepower (1,678 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train locomotive manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois. The cab version, or E8A, was manufactured from August 1949 to December 1953, and 449 were produced – 446 for U.S., and 3 for Canada. The booster version, or E8B, was manufactured from December 1949 to January 1954, and 46 were produced – all for the U.S. The 2,250 hp was achieved by putting two 1,125 hp (839 kW), 12 cylinder, model 567B engines in the engine compartment. Each engine drove its own generator to power the traction motors. The E8 was the ninth model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.

The noses of the E8 cab units had the appearance of a bulldog's snout when viewed from the side. Therefore, the E7, E8, and E9 units (as well as their four axle cousins, the F-unit series) have been nicknamed “bulldog nose” units. Earlier E-unit locomotives had a more slanted nose and were nicknamed “shovel nose” units or “slant nose” units. After passenger trains were canceled on the Erie Lackawanna in 1970, the E8s were re-geared for freight and were very reliable for the EL. These units were on freight trains until the early years of Consolidated Railroad Corporation, more commonly known as "Conrail."

Original owners

Railroad	Quantity A units	Quantity B units	Road numbers A units	Road numbers B units	Notes
Electro-Motive Division (demonstrator)	1	—	5600A	—	to Southern Pacific 6018
Electro-motive Division (demonstrator)	1	—	952	—	to Rock Island 643 1st E8A built
Electro-motive Division (demonstrator)	2	—	810-811	—	to Delaware Lackawanna & Western 810-811
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway	—	2	—	83A–84A	Model E8m
	8	3	2, 4, 5, 82, 84–87	4A, 80A, 82A	Model E8m, rebuilt from E1A and E1B
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad	6	—	532, 544–548	—
	1	—	500	—	Model E8m, rebuilt from E3A
Boston and Maine Railroad	1	—	3821	—	to Missouri Pacific 42 in 1962
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad	16	—	26,A–32,A, 90,A–96,A	—	Even numbers only
	5	6	51, 53–56	51X–56X	Model E8m, rebuilt from EA and EB
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	38	—	9937B, 9938A,B–9948A,B, 9949A, 9964–9977	—
Central of Georgia Railway	2	—	811–812	—
Chicago and North Western Railway	22	—	5019B, 5021A,B–5030A,B, 5031A
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad	13	—	644–656	—	656 is Model E8m
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway	31	—	4000–4030	—
Canadian Pacific Railway	3	—	1800–1802	—	Bought for joint Boston and Maine service in New England; only E-units purchased new by a Canadian railroad
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad	9	—	812–820	—
Erie Railroad	14	—	820–833	—
Fort Worth and Denver Railway	2	—	9981A,B	—
Gulf, Mobile and Ohio Railroad,	1	—	100A	—	Model E8m, rebuilt from an ex-B&O EA
Illinois Central Railroad	16	2	4018–4033	4104–4105
Kansas City Southern Railway	4	—	26–29	—
	1	—	23	—	Model E8m, rebuilt from E3A
Louisville and Nashville Railroad	4	—	794–797	—
Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad	9	—	106A,B, 107A,B, 131–135	—
Missouri Pacific Railroad	4	—	7018–7021	—	renumbered 38–41
New York Central Railroad	62	—	4036–4095, 4003, 4020	—
Pennsylvania Railroad	74	—	5700A–5716A, 5760A–5769A, 5788A–5799A, 5801A–5810A, 5835A–5839A, 5884A–5899A, 5902A–5905A	—	5762 to New York Central 4097
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad	15	5	1001–1015	1051—1055
Seaboard Air Line Railroad	11	—	3049–3059	—	to Seaboard Coast Line 588-598
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway	17	—	2006–2022	—	All named after a Kentucky Derby winner, hence the name of their paint scheme
Southern Railway	7	—	2923–2929	—	renumbered 6900-6905, 6916
Southern Railway (New Orleans and North Eastern)	10	—	6906–6915	—
Texas and Pacific Railway	8	—	2010–2017	—	renumbered 30–37
Union Pacific Railroad	17	24	926–942	926B–949B
	—	4	—	922B–925B	Model E8m, rebuilt from E2B
Wabash Railroad	14	—	1003–1015, 1000	—
Totals	449	46

Surviving examples

It is estimated that 58 E8s have survived into preservation. A notable example is the former NYC 4085, preserved at the New York Central Railroad Museum, which has the distinction of having being the lead locomotive on the final eastbound 20th Century Limited. Another surviving E8 is operated by the Midland Railway, in Baldwin City, Kansas. Privately owned, this unit is ex-Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad E8A #652 and is used for special events. NYC 4096, recently restored from scrap in the past, is also currently on display. New York Central 4097, privately owned, is on display at Merli Mfg Co, Duanseburg, New York. Southern Railway E8A unit #6900 is operational at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, North Carolina. It pulled the original Southern Crescent consist. Southern #6901 is on display in Duluth, GA, at the Southeastern Railway Museum. Another Southern Railway E8 #6913 is currently being restored at the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum in Oak Ridge, TN for use on their Southern excursion train. And yet another, Southern #6914, is under restoration at Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. Of the aforementioned units owned by Conrail, three were saved after their freight-service retirement and went on to be refurbished by the Juniata Locomotive Shops in Altoona, PA for use as Conrail's Office Car Special (OCS) until the merger of 1999. One unit went to CSX, and two were sold off to Bennett Levin, CEO of the Juniata Terminal Company, where they have been meticulously overhauled and painted up as twin Pennsylvania Railroad E8's. In June 2008, two authentic New York Central E8's units (4080A & 4068A) were brought to the Medina Railroad Museum in Western New York. They were to be used on train excursions, however few mechanical problems arose which side lined them across from the Museum. Word has come up that the locomotives have been blue card as of September 20, 2011.

References

• Marre, Louis A. (1982). Rock Island Diesel Locomotives - 1930-1980. Railfax, Inc. ISBN 0-942192-00-1.
• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Kalmbach Publishing Co., Milwaukee, WI. EMD–124. ISBN 0-89024-026-4. 
• Reich, Sy (1973). Diesel Locomotive Rosters – The Railroad Magazine Series. Wayner Publications. No Library of Congress or ISBN.

External links

• Midland Railway roster
• Andrew Toppan's list
• CPR Diesel Locomotive Roster

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