Did ATSF ever consider using B units for the CF7 program?

[Leo_Ames]

I always wondered why they weren't included in the program, was the lack of cab controls that big of an issue in what was otherwise a very extensive rebuilding, or was there just no need for that many light road switchers so they were scrapped or used as road slugs instead? Or was there another issue that precluded them from being included?

Can't find any answers online despite there being several great online resources about CF7's.

Thanks

[Engineer James]

I would think since "B" Units were primarily just motor units with no crew cab controls, I would n't think they would use them. Now with the A units, all they had to do was shear off the old cab, and a little cosmetitic work and wala!

[pablo]

There was a significant amount of work done to an F-unit to make a CF-7. The old F-units' frame was the whole body, so to remove the body, you basically gutted the frame.

It was a complete makeover and dramatic in the way it was accomplished.

Dave Becker

[Tadman]

Dave is right, there was no simplicity involved in the CF7 conversion. A modern roadswitcher supports the mechanicals by a frame shaped like a deck-girder bridge - put simply, beams mounted between the support points. The covered wagons such as EMD's E and F units were constructed like a truss bridge - the entire side from top to bottom were load bearing structure, and the frame of the CF7 had to be beefed up significantly before they were let loose on the road without their side-walls. Notice no other roads had a CF7 conversion program, because it was quite an involved and costly process.