PRR 5841 posted:No offense taken. While the E9 was the mechanical epitome of the series, season had passed, the chapter was closed. The post-war E’s with their bulldog noses and cheaper utilitarian paint schemes had acquired an image basically akin to F-units on steroids. Not as pretty as their earlier counterparts with their resplendent paint schemes and art deco styling but still awesome in their own way. ANY vehicle that uses TWO V-12’s to motivate it to speeds around the century mark is very cool in my book.
I can understand where you are coming from there. I am heavily influenced by my childhood which included at first PC and then former PC/CR E8s, some E7s, CNJ GP40Ps, and GG1s. I've always had a soft spot for the E8 simply for the memories. However from a design perspective not much beats the original modernism movement that started in the mid 20's in art, architecture and music and progressed to industrial engineering in the 30's. Art Deco was certainly a high point of design. I just recently sold a 1939 3/4 ton Chevy and it was a beautiful machine.
The EA and E1 really was the epitome of the series in terms of design in my opinion. Seeing the B&O EA in Baltimore was a great experience for me. Such clean lines.
EMD certainly hit a home run with the 567 series prime movers. Me watching the E8s track side as a young teen in the early 80's is a testament to the engineering that went into them.
While the 645 prime movers, especially in any of the -40 series of locomotives were probably EMD's most reliable diesel locomotives ever built, none of those will win a beauty contest.
