Thank you for presenting the PRR's E-8 locomotives, which were true classics in their day, and introduced me to train travel as a child before I learned that they replaced the steam locomotives that were popular for years. Nice to go back in time for a change.
I had the privilege of firing them a couple of trips when Via took over CPR passenger service in Canada. They must of been in eastern Canada and came out west after the take over. Two engines and generators and steam generators inside. I really enjoyed that because I am into those kind of things.
Have have modeled my railroad in the 70’s era. You can mix match road names just about anyway you want. As a kid I remember seeing lash ups of three or four different engines. I thought that’s the way railroads operated. Of course growing up I learned that I was falling I love with railroads at the height of there collapse and mergers.
The E Unit at the RR Museum of PA is an E7A, the only survivor of 428 built. The Keystone logo used on the title screen of this video is a photo of the one on the nose of the Strasburg E7. And super is spelled with one P. Unless you meant that they were used to haul dinner trains!
Fond memories of watching these pass through the Torresdale (Philly) station, on the Amtrak lines. It was worth the ride and wait to see these roaring through.
I never can decide which I like best, the EMD E8s or the Alco PAs---but wait, I don't _have to!_ Great footage. I spotted a detail at 4:55 and had to go back and check it out again: _smoke_ wafting from the stack on the roof of that head-end car on the _back_ of that train. I haven't seen that since a segment on Green Frog's "Steam in the '50s (except they put the apostrophe in the wrong place: "50's")." I'm gonna have to fish around YT and see if I can find footage of some PAs---and maybe even an F-M "Erie-built."
That last train is what I would see growing up without the modern Amtrak loco. And mixed freights with engines from the old NorthEast railroad locos, Pennsy with B&O and EL and D&H all lashed up together and thought that was the norm. Some can be seen in old Conrail videos
I read that with the upgraded signaling, the owner would have to pay an enormous amount to upgrade the locomotives. He made a statement that he isn't going to, so the end may be near seeing this set out on the rails.
Crazy to think there were a bunch of black and white wishbone gates around at this time, and now there are practically none left on active lines in the entire country
5706 A is now on static display in Irondale AL, in a shopping center that is being turned into a tourist trap...Looks pretty bad after the stint as a wedding chapel in Sumiton AL. It was set off the vehicles and placed on the track today, 03/01/2013
The Pennsylvania Railroad’s E-8’s were actually classified as EP-22’s. I don’t know what the reasoning was behind this. After the EP-22s were all retired. On NJTRO I would hear locomotive engineers from the Erie Lackawanna,talking about these E-8’s. Not realizing that they were talking about Pennsylvania Railroad’s EP-22. The E-8 and the EP22 are the same locomotives. I had operated the EP-22’s on and off,from South Amboy NJ to Bayhead NJ. From Mid 1974 up until their retirement on NJTRO. They had Two 1,100 horsepower Diesel engines equipped with Roots Blowers. (There were a few E-7’s that had two 1,000 horsepower Diesel engines. I don’t remember what their Pennsylvania Railroads classifications were.) If you lost one Diesel you still had the other to power the locomotive. Rarely would you only have one EP-22(E-8). You would generally have Two or Three of these locomotives as multiple units. By the time I was operating these locomotives. They were basically worn out. They all were extremely greasy and oily,especially on the inside walkways. There were no fire extinguishers, and basically all the safety devices )pull cords etc.)were either missing or didn’t work. The only safety devices that were kept in working order. Were the Cab Signals and speed control, the deadman and the seals on the air brake stand. You were lucky if the speed indicator worked and if it did most weren’t very accurate. Most of the Diesel engines leaked oil and produced a lot of smoke under load. Many times you would have to take a stick and place it between the inside wall of the locomotive and into the High Pressure oil button and or the Low Water high temperature button.Because they would trip out. The mechanical people would regularly do this. They all had steam Generators to provide heat for the passenger coaches. They were basically all worn out. Sometimes you would have to have all the Steam Generators going to produce enough Steam pressure to heat the coaches.
The E8's on the PRR were EP22's (no hyphen) in the PRR diesel classification system. First letter was for manufacturer, A=Alco, B=Baldwin, E=EMD, F=Fairbanks-Morse, L=Lima Hamilton. Second letter was type of service, P=Passenger, F=Freight, S=Switching/Transfer. The following numbers were horsepower to the nearest hundred, 2250 HP in the case of the E8. There were various suffix letters for special equipment applied. Thus, an Alco PA would be an AP20, a Baldwin DR6-6-2000 sharknose was a BP20, EMD E7 an EP20, and an FM Erie-Built an FP20. When the PA's were regeared for dual service they were reclassified AFP20, while the Erie-Builts were regeared for freight only and became class FF20. Centipedes were originally BP60 (2 unit set), later derated and placed in freight/helper service as BF50. The reasons the E's on NJT were operated in pairs were twofold. First, two A units back to back were bi-directional so the power needn't be turned at the end of a run. Second, a pair of units added redundancy with four prime movers so if one failed, maintaining schedules was possible rathern than a single unit losing 50% of its power.
@@fmnut Wow you know what you’re talking about. It’s been over 40 years since I operated the EP-22’s. I just found it odd that the Pennsylvania Railroad classified these locomotives as EP-22’s instead of E-8’s
@@fmnut Also when I went to the Locomotive Engineers Training Program in 1976. You had to know all locomotive IDs. This included at that time ALCO,BALDWIN, EMD and GE Locomotives. At this time. The failed rate at the LETP was anywhere from 30% to 90%. We had to know things like Electro Motive Forces, Where all the Electro Magnetic Relays were and how to bypass them. How to troubleshoot everything on all these locomotives. When I first arrived at the LETP in Wilmington Delaware. There was a fireman there that I knew well. He was on his final try to pass. Myself and a few other firemen offered to help hm out. He didn’t even know what brake pipe pressures were on Freight, Freight Truck Trains and Passenger Trains. He was crying, knowing he would lose his job if he didn’t pass. He ended up flunking out. Then when I have my final. The instructor asked me 3 questions. What was the safety rule of the day. What General Order was in effect. What Bulletin order was in effect for the Baltimore Division. Then he put out his hand and said. Congratulations you passed and are a qualified Locomotive Engineer. I thought he was messing with me. When I questioned him. He said you and two of your other classmates were passing no matter what. He said these were the orders handed down from the Head of the LETP. I knew who the other two were. What I found out. Was the head of the LETP program talked to all the Locomotive Engineers we worked for. Myself and the other two firemen took a great interest in our jobs. Most Locomotive Engineers I worked for would allow me to operate our trains from start to finish and also do the firemen work. I mostly worked the North East Corridor, from either Sunny Side Yard, Queens NYC or from Penn Station NYC to Union Station Washington DC. I also worked for a short period. South Amboy NJ to Bay Head NJ on the North Jersey Coastline. Being a Locomotive Engineer was a job that I loved. I come from a railroad family. From my Great Great Grandfather to my grandson. Great Great Grandfather was a Locomotive Engineer, Great Grandfather a Locomotive Engineer, Grandmothers Brothers Conductors, My father and his two brothers conductors, My Brother a Conductor,Myself a Locomotive Engineer. My two sons Locomotive Engineers. My Grandson,He just passed the Conductors training program.
@@mdlanor5414 Especially in the early diesel years, it was not unusual for many railroads to have their own classification systems instead of using the manufacturer's model designations. For example, the Reading used DP for FP7 passenger units, DF for streamlined freight units (FT-F3-F7 and Alco FA/FB) and RS for roadswitchers. Classes were numbered numerically in order of purchase, e.g. RS-1, 2, 3 etc. Older switchers were classified OE for Oil Electric. Jersey Central used F for freight, P for passenger, and S for switcher. Roadswitchers were FSD, dual service units were FPSD, where D stood for diesel. The following digits were for tractive effort in thousands of pounds. Thus a dual service FM Train Master was an FPSD67, while a freight only SD35 was an FSD77. Canadian Pacific used a variant of the PRR system, with DP, DF and DS followed by a manuf. designator, A for Alco/MLW, G for GM Canada, C for CLC/FM, then the HP figure in hundreds. Until the 80's, they had cast plates with the class designation bolted to the frames. Other railroads had variations on these themes.
@@fmnut Another two types of service classification on the PRR were H=Helper and T=Transfer. As an example the Centipedes started life as BP60 and went on to be classified as BH50.
My god, the truck in the thumbnail looked like a Volvo or Scania for a second. I thought to myself *WE NEVER TOOK THE PRR E8’s OUT OF THE STATES!* but then I realized it was a freightliner cabover.
What beautiful locomotives running over the years. Can you do a timeline of the years shown? I know it's from the 1980's to 2010, I just have a hard time figuring out the years.
All of the scenes of the 5 stripe E's are on the BM&R between 1988 and 1990. The Rockville excursions were in 2002. The private cars to Emporium/Erie was in 2001. The Amtrak cars turning on the wye at Reading was in 2010.
You should update your heading, not currently operational. Due to the cost of PTC and the general anti excursion attitude of Amtrak and NS now, Bennett Levin has stored them indefinitely.
@@ironstallion7784 Both sets are Nathan M5s. The 5898 set was from a Reading FP7. I know they sound different, but that info comes straight from one of the guys who restored them at Reading Shops.
All four E units in this video were originally PRR, then PC, then Amtrak. They went through a rebuild under Amtrak ownership, and were the last 4 E's on the roster, working out of New Haven CT into the late 1970s. On retirement, 2 were purchased by individuals and restored by the Blue Mountain & Reading in the Reading shops to the 5 stripe scheme. The other 2 were purchased by Conrail as 4020 and 4021 to supplement the 4022 (ex Erie) already on the roster. The three went to NS then to Bennett Levin of Philadelphia who restored the 4020/21 to their original numbers in the single stripe scheme.
Levin's pair are stored in Philadelphia. Andy's pair are split between a static display at a shopping center in Irondale AL and a tourist RR in Missouri.
Those are beautiful locomotives. The aerodynamic locos of the present day are just plain janes next to these!
Right - no Character
Thank you for presenting the PRR's E-8 locomotives, which were true classics in their day, and introduced me to train travel as a child before I learned that they replaced the steam locomotives that were popular for years. Nice to go back in time for a change.
I had the privilege of firing them a couple of trips when Via took over CPR passenger service in Canada. They must of been in eastern Canada and came out west after the take over. Two engines and generators and steam generators inside. I really enjoyed that because I am into those kind of things.
Yes, on CPR they were regularly assigned to the Atlantic Limited out of Montreal.
Have have modeled my railroad in the 70’s era. You can mix match road names just about anyway you want. As a kid I remember seeing lash ups of three or four different engines. I thought that’s the way railroads operated. Of course growing up I learned that I was falling I love with railroads at the height of there collapse and mergers.
Those old gals are just gorgeous!!
2:27 beatifull horn!
Not sure which number it sports but there is a beautiful E8 at the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum at Strasburg, PA. They were the supper liners.
The E Unit at the RR Museum of PA is an E7A, the only survivor of 428 built. The Keystone logo used on the title screen of this video is a photo of the one on the nose of the Strasburg E7. And super is spelled with one P. Unless you meant that they were used to haul dinner trains!
Saw them a few times around the west slope. Most beautiful engines I’ve ever seen.
Fond memories of watching these pass through the Torresdale (Philly) station, on the Amtrak lines. It was worth the ride and wait to see these roaring through.
I recommend updating the description to say that 5706 was unfortunately cut up in Irondale, Alabama last year.
Man those horns were loud!
I work on 5898 she still runs.
Great video! Really liked the pacing @17:48 - 19:00. To me, that's what a locomotive should look like.
Some great shots of one of my all-time favorite railroads.
I love all of your videos and stories on TH-cam on trains everyday they are good train videos and stories
I never can decide which I like best, the EMD E8s or the Alco PAs---but wait, I don't _have to!_ Great footage. I spotted a detail at 4:55 and had to go back and check it out again: _smoke_ wafting from the stack on the roof of that head-end car on the _back_ of that train. I haven't seen that since a segment on Green Frog's "Steam in the '50s (except they put the apostrophe in the wrong place: "50's")." I'm gonna have to fish around YT and see if I can find footage of some PAs---and maybe even an F-M "Erie-built."
Im a conductor on the st louis iron mountain and southern railway in jackson, mo.
Good best sounding Nathan 5m train horn
I love the M5s on both 5706 & 5898!
GenericRailfan The 5706 had a Leslie S5T/RS5T--I think. Could've been an old cast P5A, though.
It is an m5 that plays notes almost like an s5t
Max Medaglia 5706 clearly had a m5. It sounds very weird though
Absolutely cool!
That last train is what I would see growing up without the modern Amtrak loco. And mixed freights with engines from the old NorthEast railroad locos, Pennsy with B&O and EL and D&H all lashed up together and thought that was the norm. Some can be seen in old Conrail videos
Now we only run her at 5 mph. Its cool to see her going faster.
I read that with the upgraded signaling, the owner would have to pay an enormous amount to upgrade the locomotives. He made a statement that he isn't going to, so the end may be near seeing this set out on the rails.
True, at least on PTC lines. There will still be a lot of places they will still be legal to operate.
4:31 that is the least m5- sounding m5 ever.
Note, it’s a Burnett M5
Love the way the units highball down the line!
Great video thanks for the upload
AWESOME! Thanks!
Crazy to think there were a bunch of black and white wishbone gates around at this time, and now there are practically none left on active lines in the entire country
At 5:40 - RUN GENE WILDER, RUUUUN!
Good video, E8's going from thru driftwood, PA into Emporium PA
These still around and I have a M3 horn from a Union railroad engine from U.S Steel in Pittsburgh
5706 A is now on static display in Irondale AL, in a shopping center that is being turned into a tourist trap...Looks pretty bad after the stint as a wedding chapel in Sumiton AL. It was set off the vehicles and placed on the track today, 03/01/2013
The Pennsylvania Railroad’s E-8’s were actually classified as EP-22’s. I don’t know what the reasoning was behind this. After the EP-22s were all retired. On NJTRO I would hear locomotive engineers from the Erie Lackawanna,talking about these E-8’s. Not realizing that they were talking about Pennsylvania Railroad’s EP-22. The E-8 and the EP22 are the same locomotives. I had operated the EP-22’s on and off,from South Amboy NJ to Bayhead NJ. From Mid 1974 up until their retirement on NJTRO. They had Two 1,100 horsepower Diesel engines equipped with Roots Blowers. (There were a few E-7’s that had two 1,000 horsepower Diesel engines. I don’t remember what their Pennsylvania Railroads classifications were.) If you lost one Diesel you still had the other to power the locomotive. Rarely would you only have one EP-22(E-8). You would generally have Two or Three of these locomotives as multiple units. By the time I was operating these locomotives. They were basically worn out. They all were extremely greasy and oily,especially
on the inside walkways. There were no fire extinguishers, and basically all the safety devices )pull cords etc.)were either missing or didn’t work. The only safety devices that were kept in working order. Were the Cab Signals and speed control, the deadman and the seals on the air brake stand. You were lucky if the speed indicator worked and if it did most weren’t very accurate. Most of the Diesel engines leaked oil and produced a lot of smoke under load. Many times you would have to take a stick and place it between the inside wall of the locomotive and into the High Pressure oil button and or the Low Water high temperature button.Because they would trip out. The mechanical people would regularly do this. They all had steam Generators to provide heat for the passenger coaches. They were basically all worn out. Sometimes you would have to have all the Steam Generators going to produce enough Steam pressure to heat the coaches.
The E8's on the PRR were EP22's (no hyphen) in the PRR diesel classification system. First letter was for manufacturer, A=Alco, B=Baldwin, E=EMD, F=Fairbanks-Morse, L=Lima Hamilton. Second letter was type of service, P=Passenger, F=Freight, S=Switching/Transfer. The following numbers were horsepower to the nearest hundred, 2250 HP in the case of the E8. There were various suffix letters for special equipment applied. Thus, an Alco PA would be an AP20, a Baldwin DR6-6-2000 sharknose was a BP20, EMD E7 an EP20, and an FM Erie-Built an FP20. When the PA's were regeared for dual service they were reclassified AFP20, while the Erie-Builts were regeared for freight only and became class FF20. Centipedes were originally BP60 (2 unit set), later derated and placed in freight/helper service as BF50. The reasons the E's on NJT were operated in pairs were twofold. First, two A units back to back were bi-directional so the power needn't be turned at the end of a run. Second, a pair of units added redundancy with four prime movers so if one failed, maintaining schedules was possible rathern than a single unit losing 50% of its power.
@@fmnut
Wow you know what you’re talking about. It’s been over 40 years since I operated the EP-22’s. I just found it odd that the Pennsylvania Railroad classified these locomotives as EP-22’s instead of E-8’s
@@fmnut
Also when I went to the Locomotive Engineers Training Program in 1976. You had to know all locomotive IDs. This included at that time ALCO,BALDWIN, EMD and GE Locomotives. At this time. The failed rate at the LETP was anywhere from 30% to 90%. We had to know things like Electro Motive Forces, Where all the Electro Magnetic Relays were and how to bypass them. How to troubleshoot everything on all these locomotives. When I first arrived at the LETP in Wilmington Delaware. There was a fireman there that I knew well. He was on his final try to pass. Myself and a few other firemen offered to help hm out. He didn’t even know what brake pipe pressures were on Freight, Freight Truck Trains and Passenger Trains. He was crying, knowing he would lose his job if he didn’t pass. He ended up flunking out. Then when I have my final. The instructor asked me 3 questions. What was the safety rule of the day. What General Order was in effect. What Bulletin order was in effect for the Baltimore Division. Then he put out his hand and said. Congratulations you passed and are a qualified Locomotive Engineer. I thought he was messing with me. When I questioned him. He said you and two of your other classmates were passing no matter what. He said these were the orders handed down from the Head of the LETP. I knew who the other two were. What I found out. Was the head of the LETP program talked to all the Locomotive Engineers we worked for. Myself and the other two firemen took a great interest in our jobs. Most Locomotive Engineers I worked for would allow me to operate our trains from start to finish and also do the firemen work. I mostly worked the North East Corridor, from either Sunny Side Yard, Queens NYC or from Penn Station NYC to Union Station Washington DC. I also worked for a short period. South Amboy NJ to Bay Head NJ on the North Jersey Coastline. Being a Locomotive Engineer was a job that I loved. I come from a railroad family. From my Great Great Grandfather to my grandson. Great Great Grandfather was a Locomotive Engineer, Great Grandfather a Locomotive Engineer, Grandmothers Brothers Conductors, My father and his two brothers conductors, My Brother a Conductor,Myself a Locomotive Engineer. My two sons Locomotive Engineers. My Grandson,He just passed the Conductors training program.
@@mdlanor5414 Especially in the early diesel years, it was not unusual for many railroads to have their own classification systems instead of using the manufacturer's model designations. For example, the Reading used DP for FP7 passenger units, DF for streamlined freight units (FT-F3-F7 and Alco FA/FB) and RS for roadswitchers. Classes were numbered numerically in order of purchase, e.g. RS-1, 2, 3 etc. Older switchers were classified OE for Oil Electric.
Jersey Central used F for freight, P for passenger, and S for switcher. Roadswitchers were FSD, dual service units were FPSD, where D stood for diesel. The following digits were for tractive effort in thousands of pounds. Thus a dual service FM Train Master was an FPSD67, while a freight only SD35 was an FSD77. Canadian Pacific used a variant of the PRR system, with DP, DF and DS followed by a manuf. designator, A for Alco/MLW, G for GM Canada, C for CLC/FM, then the HP figure in hundreds. Until the 80's, they had cast plates with the class designation bolted to the frames. Other railroads had variations on these themes.
@@fmnut Another two types of service classification on the PRR were H=Helper and T=Transfer.
As an example the Centipedes started life as BP60 and went on to be classified as BH50.
My god, the truck in the thumbnail looked like a Volvo or Scania for a second. I thought to myself *WE NEVER TOOK THE PRR E8’s OUT OF THE STATES!* but then I realized it was a freightliner cabover.
Do prr e8s have their original 567B engines or rebuilt with 645 parts
What beautiful locomotives running over the years. Can you do a timeline of the years shown? I know it's from the 1980's to 2010, I just have a hard time figuring out the years.
All of the scenes of the 5 stripe E's are on the BM&R between 1988 and 1990. The Rockville excursions were in 2002. The private cars to Emporium/Erie was in 2001. The Amtrak cars turning on the wye at Reading was in 2010.
Bruh 6:46 these pulled amfleets tho
Those E8s are so beautiful, how can I get more info on taking a trip with these great locomotives...
Sorry, they don't run anymore. The owner decided it's too much hassle and expense to install PTC equipment. They are currently stored serviceable.
Best horns hands down
Lovely looking things. Do these still have 567 engines?
AndreiTupolev Nope. They were refitted with 645s.
AndreiTupolev Technically they were 567 blocks with 645 power assemblies.
fmnut nice to see a piece of Historic Pennsylvania Railroad equipment run again
It's so quiet
Major drool at 12:30 - 13:26.
27:27 take a look at the railroad crossing
pluey200 Good catch, I didn't know that happened when I shot the video, didn't see it until reviewing it at home
The crossing arm has come down on top of the school bus.
You should update your heading, not currently operational. Due to the cost of PTC and the general anti excursion attitude of Amtrak and NS now, Bennett Levin has stored them indefinitely.
Done. Thanks for the update.
Exactly what horns were on the 5706 and 5898? Because I've been trying to figure that out for some time ever since I heard 5706's horn.
@@ironstallion7784 Both sets are Nathan M5s. The 5898 set was from a Reading FP7. I know they sound different, but that info comes straight from one of the guys who restored them at Reading Shops.
Was the scene of the excursion on the Rockville Bridge from October 2009?
August 2002 100th anniversary
LOOK LIKE E9's to me!
Weren't three of these ex-Conrail units? What are the origins of the 4th non-Conrail unit?
All four E units in this video were originally PRR, then PC, then Amtrak. They went through a rebuild under Amtrak ownership, and were the last 4 E's on the roster, working out of New Haven CT into the late 1970s. On retirement, 2 were purchased by individuals and restored by the Blue Mountain & Reading in the Reading shops to the 5 stripe scheme. The other 2 were purchased by Conrail as 4020 and 4021 to supplement the 4022 (ex Erie) already on the roster. The three went to NS then to Bennett Levin of Philadelphia who restored the 4020/21 to their original numbers in the single stripe scheme.
@@fmnut They seem to be as smooth as a Cadillac and striking in that Pennsyvania brown.
What railroad is this pictured?
Various. Blue Mountain & Reading ex-PRR, Conrail ex-PRR, Amtrak ex-PRR, Conrail ex-RDG, Conrail ex-DL&W, Delaware-Lackawanna ex DL&W.
what happened to 5898 and 5706??? still operational?
Emerson Jones 5898 still runs on a tourist line in the Midwest. 5706 is a static display at a shopping center in Irondale AL
5898 Is operation in Jackson Missouri on the St. Louis, Iron Mountain Railway.
@@fmnut5706 was cut up for scrap in 2021.
@@mmandmcb14 so sad!
Where are they now?
Levin's pair are stored in Philadelphia. Andy's pair are split between a static display at a shopping center in Irondale AL and a tourist RR in Missouri.
fmnut hmm, what are their statuses right now?
@@brianfalzon6739 I thought I already answered that. 2 are stored serviceable, one is a hulk on display, and one is operational.
5706 was scrapped in 2021.
PRR E8 units.
Back in 1950s
Great video… When men were men and women were women… And, get off the tracks because here comes a train…
Those horns sound awful. Makes ya grit your teeth.
I hate them too. Maybe on the WM F's, no where else please. They need a nice WABCO E1
@@coldwar1952 What about a WABCO E2 ?