The EMD E8 was a 2,250 horsepower passenger train locomotive manufactured by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in La Grange, Illinois. The locomotive was manufactured from 1949 to 1954. The 2,250 hp was achieved with two 1,125 prime movers. The E8 was extremely popular with the railroads. The E9 was basically the same locomotive with mostly internal improvements, so there is not way to tell them apart externally. These locomotives ran mostly on the flat-lands with mild grades since they were not turbo-charged like the PAs which worked well in the more mountainous locations.
Aristo has come out with an excellent reproduction of this locomotive. I have the Southern Pacific version painted in the Daylight scheme. The paint is well done and the lettering is crisp. My model, based on the number is an E9. This is a big locomotive and scales close to the prototype which was 70 feet 3 inches long. At 31 inches, it is the longest diesel that I own. I have the USA PA, which in real life was 65 feet 8 inches long. It's model length is 28 1/2 inches. Both locomotives require 8 foot diameter curves at the minimum, but are much "happier" on 10 foot diameter curves.
The detail on the E8 is very good though somewhat fragile. The steps below the locomotive doors can be easily dislodged. I thoroughly recommend picking this locomotive up by placing a hand under the fuel tank. You must also be careful not to push on the intake screems or pop out a porthole window when lifting. The trucks have similar hanger straps to those found on the USA F3. Gluing them with silicone is necessary to keep from losing them as the are only pushed into place with nothing to secure them.
The locomotive has dual powered trucks with two motors per truck. They have a low-amperage draw, so you will not have current problems when starting up. Check to make sure the tabs on the top of the trucks are making contact with the contacts on the circuit board. If these tabs do not make contact, you will have a poor running locomotive, and possible dameage to the gearbox. While I had the trucks out, I re-greased the gearbox with LaBelle plastic compatible gear grease.
To reach the inside of the locomotive, you must remove the fuel tank and 7 screws that hold the body shell to the frame. There is plenty of room inside to add a dound system, DCC controller an/or batteries. The added a Phoenix P-11 Sound System. This has an excellent dual prime mover sound and I reset the horn to sound like an SP horn. I control my horn with a reed switch, so I ran the leads through the floor. Aristo makes it real easy to hook up the sound system using mini plugs which attach to the proper pins on the installed Aristo control board. A diagram is provided to make hook up easy. While inside, I repainted the "generic" engineer figure to a more realistic scheme. I also dimmed the interior cab light, since in real life they did not run with it turned on, since it would interfere with vision at night.
The locomotive has dual smoke units that are the new type with the fans. Instructions are provided on how to fill them with smoke fluid, and state that you should use Aristo smoke fluid. They also state that you should not use more than 75 drops per each unit. The smoke units will automatically shut down when they run out of fluid.
I installed Kadee couplers on my E8. There is a great article by Greg Elmassian on how to make the conversion. See his web site at www.elmassian.com for details and excellent photos. For the rear coupler I used a #787, and for the front I used an #835 with a #832 coupler box per Greg's recommendation. The installation was easy to do, and the couplers work perfectly.
Greg also wrote about adding weight to the locomotive to improve it's pulling power. Aristo does not include weights with the locomotive, but will sell them to you for $30 for three one pound weights. The original SD-45 weights were two pounds each, but are no longer available. Greg's solution was to use "bird shot". He formed an insert in the fuel tank with aluminum foil and added six pounds of #9 bird shot. He then mixed up some Tite-Bond glue and water and poured it into his mold. The bird shot costs $25 for a twenty pound bag. I obtained mine at the Silver Dollar Shooting Range in Odessa. Very reasonable, and I have a lot left over for tank cars, and other locomotives that need more weight.
Once rolling, the locomotive performs quite well. I crawls very slowly at low throttle, and the top speed is close to the prototype. The number boards and class lights are illuminated, and this model has a simulated MARS light on the nose above the regular headlight.
I would highly recommend this locomotive to those who model the steam to diesel transition period. I am going to run it occasionally with my USA PAs so that I have an A-B-A set. The gear ratios are slightly different, but it is not noticeable with a three unit set.
Aristo has not made these locomotives recently, and they may be hard to find. I was fortunate to find that Jim Mercier had one available when I was doing my search
