You got me wondering what the “E” did in fact stand for and the answer I found was this: In EMD's E-8 locomotive, the "E" stands for "eighteen hundred," referring to the approximate horsepower rating of the original E-unit locomotives, which were designed to produce around 1,800 horsepower.
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Mitch, and the F stood for fifteen hundred horsepower. Chris, thank you for this. Great locomotive but my first reaction to its condition was this is not PRR's finest moment.
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Very nice picture , in the same thinking , the F unit was it for fifteen hundreds HP ?
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There were a couple of sources from years ago which explained EMD's unique model designations. For example, "S" stood for "six hundred" hp and the "C" for cast frame, "W" for welded frame. Thus the SW was a 600 hp unit with a welded frame; an "NC" a 900-hp with a cast frame.
"E" did indeed stand for "Eighteen Hundred" and Rock Island's "TA" meant Twelve Hundred and An A or unit with an engineer's cab. Oddly, and I think was on a video about the "FT" units, the "F" stood for "Freight" type and the "T" for "Twenty-Seven hundred" hp. Each individual FT was rated at 1350 hp, so an FTA and FTB--permanently attached by a drawbar at first--would be rated at 2700 hp.
GP stood for general purpose and SD was special duty. I remember all this from articles and rosters in the old "Railroad" magazine from around the 1970's.
Excellent photo, by the way, and thanks for sharing it with us!
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