A bit of supporting evidence.
The sides of the frame-- the vertical "wall" below the edge of the walkway, to which (in post-1964 U25B and all later domestic GE hood units) the stanchions for the handrails are bolted-- are noticeably wider (top to bottom) on six axle U-series, Dash-7 series, and non-W C40-8 than they are on the C40-8W and C44-9W and AC44CW: this is a difference that can be seen easily, and doesn't require careful measurements on a photo!
The frame sides on a Norfolk Southern "conventional cab" C40-9 are narrow, like those on wide-nose GE units.
I think this supports the suggestion that the C40-9 was built on C44-9W-style frames, and not on the higher-deck frames of (non-W) C40-8. And that there would therefore be no problem fitting a standard GE wide-nose cab onto them.
Michael, I know you have very detailed drawings of many locomotive types. Do you have anything that would let you compare the "conventional" cab on a C40-9 to that on a C40-8?
The sides of the frame-- the vertical "wall" below the edge of the walkway, to which (in post-1964 U25B and all later domestic GE hood units) the stanchions for the handrails are bolted-- are noticeably wider (top to bottom) on six axle U-series, Dash-7 series, and non-W C40-8 than they are on the C40-8W and C44-9W and AC44CW: this is a difference that can be seen easily, and doesn't require careful measurements on a photo!
The frame sides on a Norfolk Southern "conventional cab" C40-9 are narrow, like those on wide-nose GE units.
I think this supports the suggestion that the C40-9 was built on C44-9W-style frames, and not on the higher-deck frames of (non-W) C40-8. And that there would therefore be no problem fitting a standard GE wide-nose cab onto them.
Michael, I know you have very detailed drawings of many locomotive types. Do you have anything that would let you compare the "conventional" cab on a C40-9 to that on a C40-8?