(also posted in General Discussion)
I just picked up my Intermountain FP7 and noticed only 2 side skirt cutouts (slots) above the fuel tank area. Every photo I have seen shows 3 cutouts on all F Units.
Is this a mistake or did some FP7’s only have 2 cutouts?
We anwered the question on the model trains portion. All prototype pictures that we found show three cutouts, but the MR drawings only showed two.
Guess we should use the prototype.
The holes your refering to were to inspect the top of the fuel tank and/or access for the laboror to steam clean the top of the fuel tank. Note the fuel filler and sight glass, prone areas for diesel weapage and refueling spills that attract dirt which will become a fire haxard. Fed inspectors would pull units out of service for a dirty fuel tank.
There may have been some engines built that had only two inspection holes, however the F3s and 7s I actually worked on and inspected had three.
The front hole was an opening over the battery box. Hope this helps…John