In 1946 UP accepted delivery of EMD E7 927A with the City of Los Angeles lettering in the red side boards. Somewhere around late 1946, early 1947 UP blanked out the lettering on it and on some of the other E7s delivered at the same time. I haven’t read or heard exactly why UP did this, but I have pics of 927A, both ways. I can assume it was done to make them more flexible for deployment. In a way, these unlettered units could be the City of Anywhere diesels. My son loves this model, cause he thinks it’s so different.
This model was originally a beat up P2k 924A that I restored. SInce 924A was an E6, not an E7, I renumbered it, along with blanking out the lettering and replacing broken/missing lift rings, grab irons and journal covers.
I just thought it was an interesting little bit of trivia.
I read the story on this in the UPHS and will look for that issue on my shelfs. It had to do with the initial multiple railroad ownership of the unit and the breakup of the CNW and UP ownership in December, 1948.
Thanks. That’s interesting, cause that means the side boards were blanked out almost 2 years before the breakup, was renumbered to 988J in 1948, supposedly sold to C&NW then and it still had those blanked out side boards. I have a photo of it as 988J that was supposedly taken in 1949 with the blanked out side boards. Maybe it was actually under C&NW ownership in that photo.
Nice work as always! [:)] I do note one thing, though…the numberboards say 102, but the unit still has 927A painted on it! [:)] IS that right? I’m not all that familiar with UP’s numbering, myself.
If I remember the story correctly, the side boards never actually received the train name on them, but the side board were painted red without lettering like your model. The picture below shows the E7A unit did have the name on the side. The only other picture I have seen of the E7A had the name painted out.
Notice the slotted pilot. You can do this with decals.
Robert- Thanks. I don’t really know, but I have a photo of it in Chicago. 102 means it would be running East, so I would think it would be possible.
Here’s a rare photo of it as delivered in 1946. I and a lot of other people thought it never had city lettering until someone on another forum posted this.
The slotted pilot has been on my mind quite a bit lately, ever since I bought a COSF E6ABB set. I actually managed to get my hands on a brass slotted pilot for the UP E6A. [:O] The curve is right for the P2k, but it’s a little short on the ends and at the top where it meets the body. I’m working on a way to get the pilot casted in ABS so I can modify it to fit the P2k. In plastic, I think I could deform it enough to fit the E7, also. Decal is a good idea, although the misplaced rectangular holes at the bottom edges on the P2k E7 are going to make it a little funky down there. I might go with the decals for the E7 anyway, but I’m bound and determined to get a slotted pilot for the E6.[:P]
I wonder if the train name was painted out because of the “City of Everywhere” deal, where two or three “City” trains would be combined at Chicago and then split up between the various destinations?? I would think having locomotives with conflicting “City” names would look odd and could cause “confusion and delay” (as Sir Topham Hat might say).
I’m with you. The boards were blanked out and all the locos started getting 900 series numbers in 1946 - long before the C&NW breakup. It makes sense, cause they would be much more flexible for rotation, maintenance and deployment. I would think that it became a real hassle, and expensive, to keep every “City” loco where it belonged when demand started increasing rapidly at end of the war.
