EMC E4

EMC E4
SAL #3003 leads the Orange Blossom Special into Plant City, Florida, in December 1938, inaugurating diesel service in the Southeast.
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderElectro-Motive Corporation (EMC)
ModelE4
Build date1938 – 1940
Total produced14 A units, 5 B units
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • AARA1A-A1A
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Prime moverEMC 12-567, 2 off
Engine typeV12 Two stroke diesel × 2
Cylinders12 × 2
Performance figures
Power output2,000 hp (1,500 kW)
Career
OperatorsSeaboard Air Line
DispositionAll scrapped

The EMC E4 was a 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive built by the Electro-Motive Corporation of La Grange, Illinois. All were built for the Seaboard Air Line Railway. The E4 was the fifth model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.

The 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) was achieved with two EMC model 567 V12 engines developing 1,000 hp (750 kW), each engine driving its own electrical generator to power the traction motors.

The front noses of the EA, E1A, E3A, E4A, E5A, and E6A cab units had a pronounced slant when viewed from the side. Therefore, these six models have been nicknamed "slant nose" units. Later E-unit models received the same blunted "bulldog nose" as the F-units.

Ironically, the E4 was produced before the E3. Both models were identical, save for the E4 having a pneumatically-operated nose door passageway in order to facilitate crew movement between units in a locomotive consist.

All the E4s were retired and scrapped by 1964.

Original owners

Railroad Quantity
A units		 Quantity
B units		 Road numbers Notes
Electro-Motive Corporation (demonstrator) 1 — 1939 to SAL 3013
Electro-Motive Corporation (demonstrator) — 1 1939B renumbered EMC 1940B,
to SAL 3104
Seaboard Air Line Railway 13 — 3000–3012
Seaboard Air Line Railway — 4 3100–3103

See also

References

  • Lamb, J. Parker (2007). Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive. Railroads Past and Present. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34863-0.
  • Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years: A Guide to Diesels Built Before 1972. Railroad Reference Series. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-258-2.
  • Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. pp. EMD–121– to EMD–123. ISBN 978-0-89024-026-7.
  • Schafer, Mike (1998). Vintage Diesel Locomotives. Enthusiast Color Series. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-0507-2.
  • Solomon, Brian (2000). The American Diesel Locomotive. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-7603-0666-6.
  • Solomon, Brian (2006). EMD Locomotives. St. Paul, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2396-0.
  • Solomon, Brian (2010). Vintage Diesel Power. Minneapolis, Minnesota: MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-3795-0.
  • Solomon, Brian (2011). Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America's Favorite Locomotives. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4007-3.
  • Solomon, Brian (2012). North American Locomotives: A Railroad-by-Railroad Photohistory. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4370-8.
  • Wilson, Jeff (2002). E Units: Electro-Motive's Classic Streamliners. Classic Trains / Golden Years of Railroading series. Waukesha, WI, USA: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 0890246068.