Like most boxcabs, they initially had control cabs at both ends, a feature that would only rarely be repeated in future North American locomotives, although it would become common elsewhere.

The added "headroom" in power extended the life of mechanical parts, which was a critical issue with early diesel engines in locomotives.

The boxy bodywork was not what EMC intended to sell, but it was an easy way to demonstrate the power units and hauling capacity, which would not be changed in the future E-units.

[2] Following that, it had a semi-streamlined "shovel nose" applied to one end, and transferred to the B&O-owned Chicago and Alton Railroad to haul the Abraham Lincoln.

The locomotive was placed into local freight and passenger service until it was retired, upon which it was donated to the National Museum of Transportation, St. Louis, Missouri, where it remains.

[3] The Santa Fe Railway was an ideal railroad to be a dieselization pioneer; its long desert runs in the Southwest made the provision of water supplies for steam locomotives problematic.

The 2226.6 mile route that these units were intended to run, covering mountain and desert, was completely unprecedented, and exposed weaknesses in the design.

Santa Fe asked for some cosmetic "dressing up" of the locomotives, since they would be hauling a prestige passenger train, and EMC obliged with a treatment by Sterling McDonald's GM styling department, which included large hooded air intakes at the front of the units and a striking paint scheme: Olive Green with Cobalt Blue and Sarasota Blue stripes separated by pinstripes of Crimson and Tuscan Red.

Because they were always run coupled together, Santa Fe employees nicknamed the two units the "One Spot Twins" and "Amos & Andy" (after the popular radio situation comedy).

[4] The revamped locomotives pulled the new Chicagoan (ATSF train) and Kansas Cityan named trainsets between Chicago and Wichita, KS, with the run soon extended to Oklahoma City.