The first E2 set for the City of San Francisco, units SF-1, SF-2 and SF-3, jointly owned by the UP, the C&NW, and the SP.

The second E2 set for the City of Los Angeles, units LA-1, LA-2 and LA-3, jointly owned by the UP and the C&NW.

The EMD E2 was an early passenger-train diesel locomotive developing 1,800 hp, with an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement, and manufactured by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois. Two sets of three were produced in 1937 for named passenger trains; the first set (SF-1, SF-2, and SF-3) for the City of San Francisco, jointly owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad, the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, and the Southern Pacific Railroad, while the second set (LA-1, LA-2, and LA-3) was for the City of Los Angeles, jointly owned and operated by the UP and CNW only. Both sets were "ABB" sets; the first locomotive unit was a cab, or "A" unit, while the other two were cabless booster, or "B" units. The locomotives were diesel-electrics with two 900 hp 201-A engines each, with each engine driving its own generator to power the traction motors. The E2 was the third model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.

The E2, along with the more-or-less simultaneous EA/EB for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad and the E1 for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, represented an important step in the evolution of the passenger diesel locomotive. While the EA, E1 and E2 were each built for a specific railroad, they were largely identical mechanically and were a step further away from the custom-built, integrated streamliner and towards mass-produced passenger locomotives—a step achieved with the E3, E4, E5, and E6, EMD's next models. These locomotives are definitely related in an evolutionary manner with all EMD's future passenger models.

The E2s' profile was more aggressive than the sloping snouts of previous EMD passenger power, so they gained a "bulldog nose" nickname. Subsequent blunt-snouted passenger units are sometimes also called this, but the E2's nose is by far the most bulbous. Seven porthole windows in the sides are also a unique feature of the E2 locomotives; others had four or less. The units were painted to match the trains in Union Pacific's Armour Yellow with Leaf Brown roofs and undersides, the same colors as UP's previous streamliners. There was extensive stainless steel on the noses, upon which were displayed the owning railroads' heralds in color.

The E2 locomotives were replaced by new E6 locomotives in 1940; the joint ownership was terminated at that point. All four "B" units (SF-2, SF-3, LA-2, LA-3) went to the Union Pacific; they were used until 1953, when they were "rebuilt" into E8 locomotives. These rebuilds utilised little of the previous locomotives and were effectively trade-ins. The driving "A" unit of the SF set, SF-1, went to the Southern Pacific; it was likewise "rebuilt" into EMD E7 #6017. The "A" unit of the LA set, LA-1, went to the Chicago and Northwestern and was eventually scrapped.

No E2 survives today.

References

• Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide, pp.EMD-118 to EMD-120. Kalmbach Books. Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 66-22894.
• Reich, Sy (1973). Diesel Locomotive Rosters – The Railroad Magazine Series, pp.113, 114. Wayner Publications. No Library of Congress or ISBN number.
• Strack, Don. Union Pacific Diesel Painting Guide. Retrieved from the Union Pacific Historical Society's site at http://www.uphs.org/Dieselpaint.htm on December 19, 2004.

External Link

North East Rails EMD E2-6 Engine Photos (http://www.northeast.railfan.net/diesel9.html)