I would like to know which of the E8A "racehorses" ran from St. Louis to Chaffee and points south. I know E8A SLSF 2020 Big Red made the last passenger run in 1965.
All the Frisco E8A and E7A (EA7) units were in system wide pools. Chances are if you lived by a Frisco main line you would get to see all the famous name locomotives eventually. One pool was over the St. Louis, MO to Oklahoma route, the other complicated pool out of Tulsa, OK covered the rest of the passenger routes. Periodically, locomotives went in for general maintenance and were switched in and out of the pools, something like shuffling a deck of cards. Later in the 1960s when there were less passenger train runs all the E-units were based at Springfield.
Check out the Historical, Divisions, River Division, St Louis Subdivision, Cape Girardeau thread. There are a number of pictures posted there of E8As in Cape. I have pictures depicting E8A SLSF 2008, 2015, 2013, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 in Cape Girardeau for proof positive.
