Baldwin / Walthers E-7 Brick

[Carey Williams]

Hello admirers of all things heavy .

Recent Ebay purchase of a Baldwin / Walthers E-7 ... in all the glorious detail sand casting can provide ( we don't need no rivets) ...bullet proof walls of bronze / brass, 3rd rail shoes, chain drive, early reverse ..what more could one want ?..but wait there is more ...two miniature EMD 12 cylinder mock engines in the cab....complete with a hollow for lights ! ...no headlight ..... prototypical holes in fake truck bearing caps for a drop of oil

Walthers 1951 catalog description claims a scale tipping 18 pounds ... this ration rationed model sans rear cab end piece a buoyant 14 pounds ... I'll bring it to display at Indy ... welcome to stop by and use it to work on toning your upper body .

Catalog chassis illustration shows two interior lights ..but no mock engines .... the mock engines are certainly a step up from a blob of lead.

Time will tell if traction effort is for stump removal service or struggling to pull it's shadow .
Cheers Carey

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[sleepmac]

COOL!

Dan Weinhold

[R.K. Maroon]

Here are the Baldwin accessories as shown in a 1950's era Walthers catalog. Note the listing for the engine weight on the lower right.



I think there may have been two versions of the E7 casting over the years (not counting the later E8 here), but I will have to do some more research to know for sure.

Jim

[bob turner]

I had a really nice example. My buddy Roy Lee told me that the roof curvature was wrong - too flat. I stick to Adams.

[Carey Williams]

Thank you all for your comments
That is quite a list of options! A back up
Light ! Baldwin / Walthers offered this basic engine for 15 plus years ?
So this is a E 8?
I need to memorize window configurations
Cheers Carey

[R.K. Maroon]

Walthers only carried the Baldwin line from the late 40s to the mid 50s. The line continued under just the Baldwin name with no Walthers affiliation for some time after that. I don't know which models lasted and which were dropped or when. Your model is an E7. The catalog shot I posted says the engine weight is for the F7 or the E8, which is the only reason I mentioned the E8. Baldwin started with the F3 and the E7, and then dropped those after the F7 and E8 came along. There were no doubt two E-unit castings -- one E7 and one E8 -- but there may be two E7 castings, regardless of the E8 -- again, I need to check.

Jim

[E7]

Thank you all for your comments
That is quite a list of options! A back up
Light ! Baldwin / Walthers offered this basic engine for 15 plus years ?
So this is a E 8?
I need to memorize window configurations
Cheers Carey

The windows are fairly distinctive, but it's easier to recognize them (7's and 8's) by their number boards. E7's (pretty sure there is not a dash in the nomenclature) have either streamlined number boards (like your example) or larger 45 degree boards. The E8's were 'ovoid' and matched the contour of the nose. The E8's also had 2 rectangular winterization hatches over the fans. they were also 2250 HP as opposed to the E7's 2000.

Visually (and this is my opinion) your engine appears to be a bit too narrow and the diameter of the top headlight looks to be too large, and the pilot is not very accurate. The curvature of the roof is in my mind, a minor issue. The Adams may be a bit better, but (opinion) it ain't no great work of art.

Obviously you guys don't buy this stuff for the "accuracy", and they didn't have the technology back then that they do now (and builders still screw stuff up today). I don't particularly care for the outside 3rd rail outriggers. They are as big a distraction to me as the center rail.

Rich

[E7]

Whoops went in to edit one word and ended up with stereo!

Rich

[bob turner]

Yes, doorstops lack the delicate details of, say, Korean brass. But for the discerning doorstop collector, there are indeed differences. If the overall outline is grossly inaccurate, it won't fit my collection. The FT is a case in point: early FT doorstops were so inaccurate in every way that I think they should be converted into scrap. Later versions compare fairly well with All Nation die cast.

The Adams/CLW PA is another case in point - it is far more accurate than the later etched and lost-wax version.

If the choice were 3-rail, stud rail, or outside third, and insulated wheels were technically impossible, my choice would be outside third ten to one.

Just me . . .

[Carey Williams]

Thank you Rich for pointing the 7 and 8's .
"The Adams may be a bit better, but (opinion) it ain't no great work of art".....

artwork perhaps not ...

Accuracy .... too much reality is not what the public want ..just watch the news .

Each piece/ like humans you have to take with all the beauty and warts ..you just choose to selectively overlook some .

During the war (WW2) whilst train production was next to none, some of the errors of prewar model railroading were examined again to try and correct ....say like the gauge on O gauge ..or the scale or both . Lionel choose this time to change all it's couplers and Flyer changed the gauge so all prewar items were not compatible with the new post war product ...in the scale world the 5% gauge / scale error remains .

95% is still a good solid A ...
Cheers Carey

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[bob turner]

The neat part of all that, including nose shape and gauge/scale, is that each of us gets an independent choice. We are free, thank God, to express our choice and our reasons for it, but also, again thank God, we should not be trying to convert others to our viewpoint. That last phrase is opinion, please.

Somebody has to love the Baldwin E-units. It won't be me. Bob Stevenson has the patterns! He has cast one! I saw it!
My Erie-Built sides are now at a doorstop foundry, awaiting sand and metal. Not nearly as good as the plastic Atlas version, but I will be far happier. That's the key.

[E7]

If the choice were 3-rail, stud rail, or outside third, and insulated wheels were technically impossible, my choice would be outside third ten to one. Just me . . .

Stud rail would be my choice if done as our friend Fred Swain does, but doing it his way looks to be one COLOSSAL pain in the arse. He switched to 2 rail, so that tells you something. I have no beef with the 3 rail guys, but the 3 raile scale folks make NO sense. RC rechargeable battery will (sooner or later) go a long way to sorting things out, with the ultimate issue being radius size. (opinion)

[E7]

My Erie-Built sides are now at a doorstop foundry, awaiting sand and metal. Not nearly as good as the plastic Atlas version, but I will be far happier. That's the key.

Just curious why you didn't just "burn" the complete Atlas shell? (Like you did with those MTH shells a while back)

[E7]

...in the scale world the 5% gauge / scale error remains .
95% is still a good solid A ...

Cheers Carey

You bet! Close enough for me for sure. Too much water over the dam to change now. I think it's a pretty fair chance that given all things equal, EXCEPT the gauge, most would be hard pressed to tell one from the other. Call me lazy, but I just don't have the time or desire to go that route. For they who do, my best wishes.

Rich

[bob turner]

The Erie-built is in the spirit of doorstop. I wanted the "sand cast" look, with all its flaws. We did the nose lost wax because it was available and easier.

I personally can see the track gauge misfit. I agree that most cannot.

Yes, Fred's stud rail is gorgeous. He is not running trains on it, which should be a hint. He needs a 4" long shoe that can go up and down without bending tiny brass pins, and even more technically difficult, it cannot tilt. It must remain parallel to the rails.

He is not happy with me because I suggest that 2-rail is easier and cheaper. He agrees, but says that is not the point. His hobby is stud rail. I can see that - my hobby is just as esoteric. I do 17/64 doorstops. Stupid, but fun.