Does anyone miss the Burlington Commuter E9s?

[BN7151]

Does anyone miss the Burlington Commuter E9s? I didn't remember them very well, however; I have accumulated a good size photo collection and wonder if anyone would think of bringing them back, even just for a run to Railroad Days in Galesburg.

[MetraBNSF]

I don't remember the E9s too well either, but those were some great engines. I remember watching a "Trains" video on BNs Chicago Racetrack and the Union Ave tower operator would talk about how the E9s would rev up as they headed west.

I remember seeing a few pictures of the E9s mixing it up with Metra's F40PHM-2s (Winnebagoes) at Aurora's Hill Yard.

[Justin B]

Of course I am too young to have seen E9s in action, but I would love to see them make a comeback!

And this will happen when pigs fly.

[BN7151]

Sigh...If only. I grew up with the F40PHs too, but I saw that old Pentrex video about the Es, and that did it for me. I know of a few that are for sale, if only I had the money, I have a big backyard - who knows?

[MR77100]

Hey guys. I grew up wtih E-units! For the first 6 years of my life I lived only a mile away from the BN's triple-track raceway in Aurora, IL. MY mother would take me down to the tracks every weekday afternoon, and I would watch the parade of trains. I can still hear that distinctive thundering the E-units made with their new duel 645E prime movers. I referred to them, as well as F-units as the "Smiley-faced engines," for good reason. Watching the rush hours was alot of fun, and I do recall seeing as many as 3 units lashed up together. My grandmother lived in Park Ridge, only 2 blocks from the C&NW main, and I saw alot of RTA/C&NW E's on the commuter trains.

Getting back to the BN units, I'm trying to figure out where they all went. Here is the information I have so far:
-2 were kept my BN for executive service
-4 went to IC for executive service
-2 went to the Susquehanna RR
-6 went to MARC commuter corp. out east
-1 went to Arkansas
-at least 3 are at the IC shops in Homewood, IL

That is 18 of the 25. Some please correct if I am wrong. Does anyone know what happened to the other 7? To answer the question for this thread, yes, I miss these units a lot! I grew up with them, and it was seeing them every day that started my interest in trains.

[BN7151]

I know that four are for sale through agents Ozark Mountain Railcar. I developed an attachment to 9924 after seeing it in a book, and I am actively searching for it. I know a handful are at National Railway Equipment somewhere in Illinois (Silvis, Mt. Vernon, Dixmoor, etc) but that's really it. I don't know about you, but I want to buy one.

[Lehigh Valley Railroad]

Sure do

Anyone know where they are?

[BN7151]

CB&Q 9911A E5A ------- 968 2/1940 Operational

NRE 9900 E9A BN 9900 9684 3/1950 Stored
IC 100 E9A BN 9901 9675 12/1949 Active
MARC 64 E9A BN 9902 9677 1/1950 Display (StLMT)
CN 102 E9A BN 9903 9679 1/1950 Active
IC 101 E9A BN 9904 18319 9/1953 Active
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MARC 66 E9A BN 9906 18314 6/1953 Display (StLMT)
MARC 91 E9A BN 9907 18315 8/1953 Active (?)
MARC 92 E9A BN 9908 18318 9/1953 Active (?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NERR 9910 E9A BN 9910 20534 12/1955 Stored
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NERR 9912 E9A BN 9912 20538 12/1955 Active
FGCX 9913 E9A BN 9913 20540 1/1956 Operational
NRE 9914 E9A BN 9914 20542 1/1956 Stored
NYSW 2402 E9A BN 9915 20533 12/1955 Active
CN 103 E9A BN 9916 20535 12/1955 Active
NERR 9917 E9A BN 9917 20537 12/1955 Stored
NRE 9918 E9A BN 9918 20539 1/1956 Stored
BN 3 E9A BN 9919 20541 1/1956 Operational
BN 9920 E9A BN 9920 19629 7/1954 Display - Keller TX
NYSW 2400 E9A BN 9921 19630 7/1954 Active
NRE 9922 E9A BN 9922 19631 8/1954 Stored
NRE 9923 E9A BN 9923 19632 8/1954 Stored
NRE 9924 E9A BN 9924 19633 8/1954 Stored
NERR 9925 E9A BN 9925 19634 8/1954 Active

The above is all I have found so far. This includes info from Andrew Toppan's latest Surviving E-Units List and some from calzephyr.railfan.net. I believe 9909 and 9911 were the only two that did not survive the retirements. (A friend had told me he knew that 9905 was running somewhere.) Oh well, we have 24 of the original 26, that's good to know.

Notes:
NERR - Nashville & Eastern Railroad (For sale)
StLMT - St. Louis Museum of Transportation
NRE - National Railway Equipment
BN - Burlington Northern
NYSW - New York, Susquehanna & Western
CN - Canadian National
IC - Illinois Central
FGCX - Florida Gold Coast Railway Museum
MARC - Maryland Area Rail Commuter Service
CB&Q - Chicago, Burlington & Quincy

[John_Perkowski]

If E units are your desire vice BN E units,

The Midland Railway in KS has CRI&P E-6A 630 and an E8 in service.

UP has a trio of E-9s that have been re-engined at least to GP-38-2 standards. (645 diesel, modern electrical cabinet, modern control stands)

[Trainheartedguy]

CB&Q 9911A E5A ------- 968 2/1940 Operational

MARC 64 E9A BN 9902 9677 1/1950
MARC 66 E9A BN 9906 18314 6/1953 Display (StLMT)
MARC 91 E9A BN 9907 18315 8/1953 Active (?)
MARC 92 E9A BN 9908 18318 9/1953 Active (?)
The above is all I have found so far. This includes info from Andrew Toppan's latest Surviving E-Units List and some from calzephyr.railfan.net. I believe 9909 and 9911 were the only two that didn't make it into the modern day. Oh well, we have 24/26, that's not too bad.

Notes:
MARC - MARC Commuter Service (I have no idea what the letters mean)

MARC: Maryland Area Rail Commuter (I'm almost positive), and all the E-9s were retired around '95, '96 as far as I know, and only one passenger F9 still is on the roster, #7100, no diesel engine anymore, but at least she still has a F9 shell. All the Es left are still in BN green & white. One was sold and runs the Washington [State] wine train.

[BN7151]

If anyone wants more info on the BN E9s, I'm going to add a page to my site with those listings -- any updates would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for clarifying that. I will check to see where the rest of the MARC E9s are now.

Also, I had no idea that there were two pre-7 Series E-units remaining, but that's a topic for another forum.

[MR77100]

BN7151-

What do you mean that the 9901 and 9911 didn't make it to the modern day? Were they scrapped in 1973 during the time of the rebuilding?

[BN7151]

MR77100:

No, I believe they were scrapped or otherwise recycled after the 1991-1993 retirements. I have pictures of them running well into the 1980s in BN Cascade Green. I am going to edit that post, so please bear with me, new readers.

[bones]

What I didn't like about the BN E9's was that they removed the lower headlight, no portholes, and the color sheme. The should have left them silver. They were rebuilt with some 645 power assemblies which gave them a slighty different sound than your normal E8 / E9. When I worked for the BN, I had a chance to run 9918, 9920, and 9922 and I enjoyed it! This was when the Winnebago's (F40PHM-2) were new.

One time I saw an E9 and an F40PH double-headed. Does anyone know if an E9 and a Winnebago (F40PHM-2) were ever double-headed together?

The main thing is that atleast they were E-units running in Chicago!

[BN7151]

Bones -

Well, I can tell you that MetraBNSF has seen them mingling in Aurora. As for standard cab F40s, I can remember hearing about someone who saw a BN E9 and Metra F40PH-2 running double headed. As for the color scheme, I have to disagree with you on one point - although it would be nice if they were silver, the green and white looked pretty good in my opinion.