Power type Diesel-electric Build date 1940–1941 AAR wheel arr. A1A-A1A | Model E5 Total produced 11 A units, 5 B units | |
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Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) | ||
The EMD E5 was a 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation, and its corporate successor, General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois, and produced exclusively for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (“The Burlington Route”), and its subsidiaries, during 1940 and 1941. The E5 was distinguished from the otherwise very similar E3, E4 and E6 by being clad in polished stainless steel to match the Burlington's Zephyr trains. Like those other models, the E5 had a sloping “slant nose” and it was equipped with two headlights — a regular stationary headlight above a gyrating "Mars" signal light. The E5 was the sixth model in a long line of passenger diesels of similar design known as EMD E-units.
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Engine and powertrain
The E5 used twin 12 cylinder 567 engines developing a total of 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) at 800 rpm. Designed specifically for railroad locomotives, this supercharged 2 stroke 45 degree V type, with an 8 1⁄2 in (216 mm) bore by 10 in (254 mm) stroke giving 567 cubic inches (9,290 cm3; 9.29 L) displacement per cylinder, remained in production until 1966. Two D.C. generators, one per engine, provide power to four motors, two on each truck, in an A1A-A1A arrangement. This truck design was used on all E units and on MP 7100 AA6, CB&Q 9908, and C,RI&P AB6 power cars. EMC/EMD has built all of its major components since 1939.
Surviving example
The last surviving EMD E5 diesel, named Silver Pilot, is owned and operated by the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. Last used on the Fort Worth and Denver Railway (a CB&Q subsidiary) on the Texas Zephyr, the E5 is matched with one of the Burlington's Nebraska Zephyrs, a 5 car, articulated, stainless steel 1936 passenger train. This equipment was used in the production of the 1992 film A League of Their Own, and for the 2006 film Flags of Our Fathers, E5 9911A Silver Pilot was used with 4 stainless steel passenger cars relettered to resemble the Zephyr trainset.