Early CB&Q E7s -- Small Number Boards -- 4 Photos
Starting with a side note. CB&Q had only 3 E-unit B-units, all E5Bs, numbers 9910B, 9911B, and 9912B. Two of the shovel noises had B-units, 9906B and 9907B.
Now to the topic of this post. The first CB&Q E7As, 9916A through 9925B built in November 1945, had small number boards making reading their road number impossible in most photographs. The problem with the number boards is the operators in towers and other locations could not see the number to "OS" them. I.e., they could not tell the dispatcher, "9917B by Oakland at 10:52". "OS" means "On Sheet", i.e., written down. Here are some examples. I'll number them 99XX.
1. CB&Q E7 99XX in St. Paul, MN at Division St. Tower on June 9, 1964. This looks like the Afternoon Zephyr headed for Chicago. The first dome, before the head-end cars, was Silver Dome (see next photo). The state capitol dome is above the last car.
Early CB&Q E7s -- Small Number Boards -- 4 Photos
Starting with a side note. CB&Q had only 3 E-unit B-units, all E5Bs, numbers 9910B, 9911B, and 9912B. Two of the shovel noises had B-units, 9906B and 9907B.
Now to the topic of this post. The first CB&Q E7As, 9916A through 9925B built in November 1945, had small number boards making reading their road number impossible in most photographs. The problem with the number boards is the operators in towers and other locations could not see the number to "OS" them. I.e., they could not tell the dispatcher, "9917B by Oakland at 10:52". "OS" means "On Sheet", i.e., written down. Here are some examples. I'll number them 99XX.
1. CB&Q E7 99XX in St. Paul, MN at Division St. Tower on June 9, 1964. This looks like the Afternoon Zephyr headed for Chicago. The first dome, before the head-end cars, was Silver Dome (see next photo). The state capitol dome is above the last car.