Operation
The E9 powered American passenger and mail trains from the 1950s into the late 1970s. Many of America's finest trains — such as Union Pacific Railroad's "City" fleet, Burlington's "Zephyr" fleet and Southern Pacific Railroad's Coast Daylight and Sunset Limited — had E9s pulling them. E9s and their E7 and E8 kin ran throughout the country on lesser-known passenger trains, Chicago's network of commute trains and many mail and express trains. As America's passenger train service began to shrink due to unprofitability, Union Pacific, Rock Island and Illinois Central Railroad began using E9s on their fast freight trains.
Amtrak, founded in 1971, bought about 59 E9A/Bs from the Union Pacific, Milwaukee Road, B&O and SCL. Amtrak used the E9s until the late 1970s and converted many of the cab-less E9-B units to steam generator and head end power cars.
Read more about this topic: EMD E9
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