Rick Abramson wrote:The E44s look neat. Is the CR unit an E44a?
Yup, all three are E44As various patches of Conrail, though the jury is out on the 4465, which is way in the back
I originally thought that E44A denoted the silicon rectifier (as opposed to the old Ignitron tubes), but I saw a recent discussion saying the actual difference is the motors in the trucks themselves. Apparently, when the PRR sent 4438-4459 back to GE, they didn't only swap out the ignitron tubes for silicon rectifiers, but also replaced the motors with a more powerful type, giving those units 5,000 horsepower. while 4460-4465 have the same E44A body, they have the old motors, and there for still only have 4,400 HP. because of the horsepower difference, 4438-4459 are considered E44As, while 4460-4465 are technically still E44s.
The "yellow" Jet never left Erie, it was the 372. There was a paint-off at Erie in 1955 between 370 in the standard scheme for the Jets and 372. Pat and Lucille McGinnis, Herbert Matter who designed the black/white/red "NH" scheme and Florence Knoll, head of Knoll and Associates went to Erie to view both schemes. 370 won the contest. 372 was repainted.
I have a book published by NJ International on the EP5, "Classic Power No.9 : New Haven EP-5 Jets", and on page 31 the canary yellow EP5 appears to have a New Haven style catenary bridge behind it. I could be wrong (the book doesn't say). I remember hearing a story that McGinnis's wife was wearing the same colors as the Red White Black EP5, and so that was the color chosen.
The tram man wrote:Yellow EP5? I must have miseed something. Got any pic of it?
Apparently, the other problem was that yellow collected dirt more noticeably. that's fine, the yellow-white-black one is strange looking anyway. in fact, when i first saw it, i thought there was something wrong with the photograph. I don't have a picture, but I'm sure one is out there.
Elite Juice Jack Modeler.