Awhile back, someone asked about EMD E’s in freight service. I found this picture of a Rock Island E-8 leading some newfangled road switchers on an autorack train through the heartland:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=168790
Copy this link into your navigation bar and enjoy the improbable.
Rich
That photo isn’t as outrageous or uncommon as it would seem. Rock Island routinely used it’s E’s in freight service…I once saw 4 of them on a freight in Joliet, Illinois. Erie Lackawanna often used it’s E8’s (and PA’s in freight service) by themselves and mixed with second generation SD45’s & GP35’s. Pennsylvania and Penn Central tried E7’s & E8’s in TOFC service and Bangor & Aroostook used it’s two E7’s briefly in freight service with GP7’s, F3’s and BL2’s before selling them. New York, Susquehanna & Western has a former BN E9 that occasionally sees freight duty.
A few months ago the WSOR used the E9s in freight service. They are geared for 70 mph, same as the rest of the engines. Used them for about 3 days, until they ran out of fuel. They went back to primarily passenger service.
Depends on the railroad. The Baltimore and Ohio used some of the earlier models on freight. They had smaller wheels which did not help and the middle axle was an idler. After all they look better hauling the varnish!
UP & CB&Q also used their E’s in freight service. In a similar vein, some Amtrak F40’s were leased to UP for use on intermodal trains.
I remember seeing a SP freight train with one SP locomotive and three Amtrak F40PHs in the mid 1990s.
Seaboard Air Line used E units on piggyback trains.
When Amtrak was first created, it had the ability to pick whichever of a railroad’s passenger locomotive fleet they wanted to buy (if any). Many railroads transferred their newer, best-operating passenger power, to their freight rosters, so the railroad kept the good units and Amtrak got the junk.
After Amrack took over Milwaukee Road used their E’s in transfer service in Milwaukee all the time along with a passenger FA&FB. I worked at Cargill in the valley in Milwaukee and would see them heading out every morning. I kept telling myself tomorrow I have to bring my camera, well when tomorrow finally came the F’s and E’s were gone.[banghead]