EMD E5

EMD E5
CB&Q EMD E5 No. 9911A Silver Pilot at the Illinois Railway Museum
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
ModelE5
Build dateFebruary 1940 – June 1941
Total produced11 A units, 5 B units
Specifications
Configuration:
 • AARA1A-A1A
Gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm)
Wheel diameter36 in (0.914 m)
Wheelbase:
 • Truck14 ftin (4.29 m)
Length71 ftin (21.67 m)
Width10 ftin (3.12 m)
Height15 ftin (4.57 m)
Loco weightA unit: 315,000 lb (142,882 kg)
B unit: 290,000 lb (131,542 kg)
Prime moverEMD 12-567, 2 off
Engine typeV12 Two-stroke diesel
Cylinders12 × 2
Loco brakeD22L
Performance figures
Maximum speed116 mph (187 km/h)
Power output2,000 hp (1,491 kW)
Tractive effort:
 • Starting56,500 lbf (25,628 kgf)
 • Continuous31,000 lbf (14,061 kgf) @11 mph (18 km/h)
Career
OperatorsChicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and subsidiaries
DispositionOne unit preserved in operating condition at the Illinois Railway Museum

The EMD E5 is a 2,000-horsepower (1,500 kW), A1A-A1A passenger train-hauling diesel locomotive manufactured by Electro-Motive Corporation, and its corporate successor, General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of La Grange, Illinois, and produced exclusively for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (“The Burlington Route”), and its subsidiaries, during 1940 and 1941. The E5 was distinguished from the otherwise very similar E3, E4 and E6 by being clad in polished stainless steel to match the Burlington's Zephyr trains. It also featured unique small grill-like ornamentation on both sides of the upper headlight. Like the other pre-war models in the E-series, the E5 had a sloping “slant nose” and it was equipped with two headlights — a regular stationary headlight above a gyrating Mars signal light. The E5 was the sixth in the EMD E-unit series.