Are noses different on F2-9 or FP7/9 or FL9 or E7-9?

[learmoia]

Besides the EA through E6...

I've always been curious if the nose design changed over the years?

~Ian

[nkalanaga]

I read someplace, years ago, that every F nose is different, because they were all handmade.  But, to answer your question, as far as I know, they are all supposed to be the same.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I read someplace, years ago, that every F nose is different, because they were all handmade.  But, to answer your question, as far as I know, they are all supposed to be the same.

Handmade, yes, kinda, but on jigs. So there might be minor variations, but not major ones.

[wazzou]

But, but, but...someone told everyone here they were cast, remember.   

[dem34]

Handmade, yes, kinda, but on jigs. So there might be minor variations, but not major ones.

Now Baldwins are a different story, all the CNJ Double Enders are noticeably different from each other even end to end on the same locomotive.

[learmoia]

Some of of the Es/Fs seem to have a vertical straight edge at the center of the nose (especially in the door).. while others appear to have a rounded nose..

Any rhyme or reason to this?  Or an optical illusion?

~Ian

[nkalanaga]

The way I remember it, from an old magazine article, is that Ed is right.  They hammered sheet metal to shape on a jig, then smoothed the whole thing with Bondo.  So, while they are all supposed to be identical, they all have slight differences.  Reduced to N, or even HO, those differences wouldn't be noticeable. 

I imagine the construction method did make repairing damage harder for the shop crews, if they wanted to get it "right".