07/01/06
| EJ&E GP38-2 |
The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway ordered five heavily ballasted EMD GP38-2 locomotives in 1972. They
numbered 700 - 704. These units helped to displace the aging Alco and Baldwin switcher fleet. In appearance,
these units had nothing special about them. They looked like standard catalog units. As delivered, there was
one noticeable feature that quickly disappeared. On either side of the cab roof slope was a "L" bracket with a
strobe light mounted atop it. In the photo above, you can see the rust marks where the bracket was cut off. On
the EJ&E web site in the PHOTO GALLERY section under PHOTOS by MIKE GRIESMANN, you can see this
feature on unit #700.
In 1985 all five of the J's GP38-2's were leased to Birmingham Southern. They stayed in EJ&E orange and
silver paint as well as retained their unit road numbers., but got Birmingham Southern lettering on the side of
the hood. In 1996 unit 703 was returned to the J. It got shopped and returned to duty in a new fresh coat of
orange and a new style of lettering.
As delivered paint was orange with silver frame, fuel tank and trucks. This orange is darker than the orange of
the J today. When I get what I am satisfied with in matching the color, I will put it in this article. As far as I can tell
and from some research, the top walkway deck was painted black or anti-skid black. There are no photos to
prove this, but there are photos to prove that the SD38 and SD38-2's had this application during delivery. Also,
I have asked an engineer who was around at that time and recalls the decks of the SD38 and SD38-2's being
black. Going off that knoweldge and what teh EMD paint diagram calls for, the decks are black anti-skid paint.
The orange was applied to everything else. Even the hand rail ends. This was before the FRA ruling to have a
contrasting color for any leading hand holds. In the photo above you will notice two lighter color orange doors
under the radiator section. This is where the old OUTER BELT logo used to be. My best guess from photo
research is that these logos were removed or painted over sometime in the spring or summer of 1974. I say
this because the first order of SD38-2's which were delivered in January of 1974 had this logo on them and a
photo I have seen taken in June 1974 shows the same radiator doors painted over.
Building a J unit of any kind has been a long time coming for me. Ever since I started modeling in HO, I have
wanted to build some J locomotives. I just seemed to always get side tracked. This model actually started out to
be the Chessie GM50 unit. My modeling era for the EJ&E is the mid 1970's.
I hope this article will inspire others to build models. Only by "BUILDING" models will we get the kits and parts
we desire to build our favorite prototype. Try to set aside your ready to run tendencies and build something
you can be proud of. You do not have to finish it over night. Then when you are done, proudly display it at a an
RPM meet where you can rub elbows with others that have the same interest.
OK, time to start building.In this article I am going to try and let the photos do most of the talking. If something
needs to be explained in detail, I will do that.
numbered 700 - 704. These units helped to displace the aging Alco and Baldwin switcher fleet. In appearance,
these units had nothing special about them. They looked like standard catalog units. As delivered, there was
one noticeable feature that quickly disappeared. On either side of the cab roof slope was a "L" bracket with a
strobe light mounted atop it. In the photo above, you can see the rust marks where the bracket was cut off. On
the EJ&E web site in the PHOTO GALLERY section under PHOTOS by MIKE GRIESMANN, you can see this
feature on unit #700.
In 1985 all five of the J's GP38-2's were leased to Birmingham Southern. They stayed in EJ&E orange and
silver paint as well as retained their unit road numbers., but got Birmingham Southern lettering on the side of
the hood. In 1996 unit 703 was returned to the J. It got shopped and returned to duty in a new fresh coat of
orange and a new style of lettering.
As delivered paint was orange with silver frame, fuel tank and trucks. This orange is darker than the orange of
the J today. When I get what I am satisfied with in matching the color, I will put it in this article. As far as I can tell
and from some research, the top walkway deck was painted black or anti-skid black. There are no photos to
prove this, but there are photos to prove that the SD38 and SD38-2's had this application during delivery. Also,
I have asked an engineer who was around at that time and recalls the decks of the SD38 and SD38-2's being
black. Going off that knoweldge and what teh EMD paint diagram calls for, the decks are black anti-skid paint.
The orange was applied to everything else. Even the hand rail ends. This was before the FRA ruling to have a
contrasting color for any leading hand holds. In the photo above you will notice two lighter color orange doors
under the radiator section. This is where the old OUTER BELT logo used to be. My best guess from photo
research is that these logos were removed or painted over sometime in the spring or summer of 1974. I say
this because the first order of SD38-2's which were delivered in January of 1974 had this logo on them and a
photo I have seen taken in June 1974 shows the same radiator doors painted over.
Building a J unit of any kind has been a long time coming for me. Ever since I started modeling in HO, I have
wanted to build some J locomotives. I just seemed to always get side tracked. This model actually started out to
be the Chessie GM50 unit. My modeling era for the EJ&E is the mid 1970's.
I hope this article will inspire others to build models. Only by "BUILDING" models will we get the kits and parts
we desire to build our favorite prototype. Try to set aside your ready to run tendencies and build something
you can be proud of. You do not have to finish it over night. Then when you are done, proudly display it at a an
RPM meet where you can rub elbows with others that have the same interest.
OK, time to start building.In this article I am going to try and let the photos do most of the talking. If something
needs to be explained in detail, I will do that.
Dennise Schmidt Photo
Joliet, IL 5/29/1977
Joliet, IL 5/29/1977
Displayed with permission
Fallen Flags web site
Fallen Flags web site