I am attempting to reconstruct part of one of the 400’s (streamliners) used by the Chicago and Northwestern RR, and I need to know: Did they run E8’s, E9’s, F3’s, or F7’s on those trains?
The North Western had 1 E2A, 4 E3As, 5 E6As, 26 E7As, and 21 E8As during the “400” era. During and after 1958, a total of 43 freight-service F7As were converted to passenger service, and were equipped with diesel generator sets to provide electrical power for bi-level cars. The converted F7s could be found on the “Peninsula 400”, the “Flambeau 400”, other trains in the fleet converted to bi-level service. All but 2 of the E8As had their steam generators replaced with diesel gen sets by the end of 1963, and the other 2 were converted in 1964.
In 1955, the road’s 4 FTAs and 4 FTBs were remanufactured as FP9As (the only ones in the US) and F9Bs, and were equipped with steam generators. They occasionally appeared on “400” trains.
I suggest tracking down a copy of the Scribbins book The 400 Story.
My recollection is E7s by the way.
Dave Nelson
Fiverings told most of it! Some of the short distance 400’s had heavy weight equipment at times, and the Minnesota 400 was regularly powered by a streamlined Pacific steam engine. After the Milwaukee road took over the “Cities” trains, even equipment in “UP” colors showed up in some of the 400’s.
You might find some info and pictures at www.cnwhs.org
Paul