O E8 AA Diesels IC/3.0

In the mid-1930’s, as the Electro-Motive Division of General
Motors was trying to interest railroads in diesel passenger power, it
experimented a lot with exterior design. Looking at EMD’s worm-like
yellow and brown Union Pacific M-10000, its gleaming stainless steel
Burlington Zephyr, or the boxy, just-plain-ugly early Santa Fe units,
it’s apparent that here was a new function looking for its form. The
first generation of road diesels found its form in 1937 when the
initial E-units, built for the B&O, inaugurated the classic
“covered wagon” cab unit design that would last for decades on both
freight and passenger diesels.

The earliest E-units were each virtually custom-made, with
less than 20 units produced of models EA through E5. The prewar E6 was
the first mass-produced passenger diesel and the last to sport the
rakish, streamlined EMD nose so characteristic of the 1930s. After the
war, the new E7 adopted the “bulldog” nose introduced earlier on the FT
freight diesel. With the rollout of the E8 in 1949, the E-unit,
America’s most popular passenger diesel, reached its final visual form
– just in time for the last hurrah of the American passenger train.
With twin motors to ensure reliability and six-wheel trucks that rode
like a Cadillac, the E8 was an engineer’s dream. For hoggers who had
not long ago worked in steam locomotives, the clean cab of an E-unit
with its lofty, panoramic view of the road ahead was not hard to get
used to.

Returning to the RailKing line in 2016, our E8 brings you the
authentic sounds of EMD prime movers, plus the ability to announce your
departure and start your train so gently you won’t spill the water in
the diner – and then accelerate up to scale speeds of over 100 mph,
just like the prototype.