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The H-24-66, or Train Master, was a diesel-electric railroad locomotive produced by Fairbanks-Morse and its licensee, Canadian Locomotive Company. These six-axle hood unit road switchers were deployed in the United States and Canada during the 1950s.
They were the successor to the ultimately unsuccessful Consolidated line of cab units produced by F-M and CLC in the 1950s. Each locomotive produced 2,400 horsepower (1.8 MW). In common with other F-M locomotives, the Train Master units employed an opposed piston prime mover. It rode on a pair of drop-equalized three-axle "Trimount" trucks, giving it a C-C wheel arrangement.
Advertised by Fairbanks-Morse as "the most useful locomotive ever built" upon its introduction in 1953, the 2,400-horsepower (1.8 MW) H-24-66 Train Master was the most powerful single-engine diesel locomotive available at the time, legendary for its pulling power and rapid acceleration. No competitor offered a locomotive with an equal horsepower rating until the ALCO RSD-7 entered production in January 1954. EMD followed suit later in July 1958 with the SD24, and GE introduced their U25C in September 1963.
While some railroads saw advantages in the Train Master's greater power, others thought the unit had too much horsepower. Other drawbacks were the difficulties inherent in maintaining the opposed-piston engine, inadequacies in the electrical system, and a higher-than-normal consumption of cooling water. All these contributed to poor marketplace acceptance of the Train Masters—and ultimately the departure of F-M and CLC from the locomotive business.
Three carbody variants were produced. Phase 1a units had air intake louvers in a continuous line along the top of the long hood and a wide separating strip between the radiator fans. Phase 1b had a "dip" in the long hood handrails that allowed them to better follow the profile of the side walkways. Phase 2 units had fewer air intake louvers, with large gaps separating them, and the radiators themselves were divided by a tiny metal strip.
Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers | Notes |
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Fairbanks-Morse (demonstrator units) | 4 | TM-1 – TM-4 | TM-1 & TM-2 to Wabash Railroad 550–551; TM-3 & TM-4 to Southern Pacific 4800–4801/3020–3021 |
Canadian National Railway | 1 | 3000 | Later renumbered 2900. |
Canadian Pacific Railway | 1 | 8900 | Only CPR Train Master built by FM (not CLC). Delivered with a single steam generator. Remaining (twenty) CPR Train Masters (8901-8920) built by CLC (see below). |
Central Railroad of New Jersey | 13 | 2401–2413 | |
Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad | 12 | 850–861 | to Erie Lackawanna Railroad 1850–1861 |
Pennsylvania Railroad | 9 | 8699–8707 | to Penn Central 6700–6708 |
Reading Company | 17 | 800–808, 860–867 | |
Southern Pacific | 14 | 4802–4815, 4800-4815 | Renumbered 3020–3035 in 1965 |
Southern Railway (CNO&TP) | 5 | 6300–6304 | |
Virginian Railway | 25 | 50–74 | to Norfolk and Western Railway 150–174 |
Wabash Railroad | 6 | 552–554, 552A–554A | Renumbered 552–557 |
Total | 107 |
Railroad | Quantity | Road numbers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Canadian Pacific Railway | 20 | 8901–8920 | CP 8905 is the only H-24-66 preserved. It can be seen at the Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant, Quebec, Canada. 8901-8904 originally delivered with unique wide short hoods housing dual steam generators, converted to normal hood width when SG's removed. |
Only one Train Master locomotive has survived intact: former Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) H-24-66 #8905, which is now owned by the Canadian Railroad Historical Association, which operates the Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant, Quebec.
Some former Virginian Railway Train Masters were rebuilt into slugs by the Norfolk and Western Railway; they survived well into Norfolk Southern service. One is preserved at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, Pennsylvania.
The U25C is a diesel locomotive built by General Electric intended for the United States domestic market. Launched in September 1963, it remained in production until December 1965. It was replaced by the U28C.
Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Founded in 1823 as a manufacturer of weighing scales, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, feed mills, locomotives, and industrial supplies. It was purchased by the Penn-Texas conglomerate in 1958.
The Canadian Locomotive Company, commonly referred to as CLC, was a Canadian manufacturer of railway locomotives located in Kingston, Ontario. Its works were located on the south side of Ontario Street between William and Gore streets on Kingston's waterfront.
The ALCO RS-3 is a 1,600 hp (1.2 MW), B-B diesel-electric locomotive manufactured from May 1950 to August 1956 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and its subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). A total of 1,418 were produced: 1,265 for American railroads, 98 for Canadian railroads, 48 for Brazilian railroads, and seven for Mexican railroads.
The Consolidation Line was a series of diesel-electric railway locomotive designs produced by Fairbanks-Morse and its Canadian licensee, the Canadian Locomotive Company. Railfans have dubbed these locomotives C-liners, however F-M referred to the models collectively as the C-Line. A combined total of 165 units were produced by F-M and the CLC between 1950 and 1955.
The H-16-66 was a 1,600 horsepower locomotive, with a C-C wheel arrangement that was manufactured by Fairbanks-Morse from January, 1951 until October, 1958 as a smaller alternative to their better known FM H-24-66 "Train Master" locomotive. With an 8-cylinder prime mover developing 1600 hp compared to the H-24-66's 2400 hp from as 12 cylinder engine, the H-16-66 was commonly referred to as the "Baby Train Master". Although sharing a common model designation, four different carbody variants existed with a total of only 59 locomotives produced.
The EMD GP7 is a four-axle (B-B) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division and General Motors Diesel between October 1949 and May 1954.
The EMD GP9 is a four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1954 and 1959. The GP9 succeeded the GP7 as the second model of EMD's General Purpose (GP) line, incorporating a new sixteen-cylinder engine which generated 1,750 horsepower (1.30 MW). This locomotive type was offered both with and without control cabs; locomotives built without control cabs were called GP9B locomotives.
The FM H-12-44TS was a light road switcher version of the Fairbanks-Morse H-12-44 yard switcher locomotive. Only three of the 1,200-horsepower (890 kW), six-cylinder opposed piston engine locomotives were manufactured especially for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in May, 1956. The units had an extended frame to accommodate the addition of a short hood behind the cab, and were configured in a B-B wheel arrangement and mounted atop a pair of two-axle AAR Type-A switcher trucks with all axles powered. H-12-44TSs also came equipped with steam generator units as they were acquired solely for shuttling passenger cars in and around the Dearborn Station terminal in Chicago, Illinois.
The FM H-12-44 was a switcher locomotive produced by Fairbanks-Morse from May 1950 until March 1961. The units had a 1,200-horsepower (890 kW), six-cylinder opposed piston engine prime mover, and were configured in a B-B wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of two-axle AAR Type-A switcher trucks, with all axles powered and geared for a top speed of 60 miles per hour (97 km/h).
The FM H-12-46 was a light road switcher of Fairbanks-Morse design manufactured exclusively by the Canadian Locomotive Company from October, 1951–January, 1953 for the Canadian National Railway. Only thirty of the 1,200 hp, six-cylinder opposed piston engine locomotives were produced. The units were configured in an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement, mounted atop a pair of three-axle trucks.
The FM H-10-44 was a switcher locomotive produced by Fairbanks-Morse from August, 1944–March, 1950. The units featured a 1,000-horsepower (750 kW), six-cylinder opposed piston prime mover, and were configured in a B-B wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of two-axle AAR Type A trucks, with all axles powered. Many H-10-44s received modifications that increased their horsepower rating to 1,200 hp (890 kW).
The FM H-16-44 was a diesel-electric locomotive produced by Fairbanks-Morse from April 1950 – February 1963. The locomotive shared an identical platform and carbody with the predecessor Model FM H-15-44, and were equipped with the same eight-cylinder opposed piston engine that had been uprated to 1,600 horsepower (1,200 kW). The H-16-44 was configured in a B-B wheel arrangement, mounted atop a pair of two-axle AAR Type-B road trucks with all axles powered. In late 1950, the AAR trucks were almost exclusively replaced with the same units found on the company's "C-liner" locomotives.
The ALCO RSD-7 was a diesel-electric locomotive of the road switcher type built by ALCO at Schenectady, New York between January 1954 and April 1956. Two versions were built, with the same RSD-7 model designation but different specifications and power ratings, although both used the ALCO 244 engine in V16 configuration. Specification DL-600, of which only two were built, developed 2,250 hp and used the 244G engine. The revised specification DL-600A, numbering 27 locomotives, was rated at 2,400 hp and used the 244H engine. The RSD-7 was superseded by the ALCO 251-engined ALCO RSD-15, which looks very similar. The RSD-7 was the last ALCO diesel built with a 244 engine.
The FM H-15-44 was a diesel locomotive manufactured by Fairbanks-Morse from September 1947 to June 1950. The locomotive was powered by a 1,500-horsepower (1,100 kW), eight-cylinder opposed piston engine as its prime mover, and was configured in a B-B wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of two-axle AAR Type-B road trucks with all axles powered. The H-15-44 featured an offset cab design that provided space for an optional steam generator in the short hood, making the model versatile enough to work in passenger service as well as freight duty.
The FM H-20-44 was a diesel locomotive manufactured by Fairbanks-Morse from June 1947 – March 1954. It represented the company's first foray into the road switcher market. The 2,000 hp (1,490 kW), ten-cylinder opposed piston engine locomotive was referred to by F-M's engineering department as the "Heavy Duty" unit. It was configured in a B-B wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of two-axle AAR Type-B road trucks with all axles powered. H-20-44s shared the same platform and much of the same carbody as the lighter-duty FM H-15-44, which began its production run three months later.
The Erie-built was the first streamlined, cab-equipped dual service diesel locomotive built by Fairbanks-Morse, introduced as direct competition to such models as the ALCO PA and FA and EMD FT. F-M lacked the space and staff to design and manufacture large road locomotives in their own plant at Beloit, Wisconsin, and was concerned that waiting to develop the necessary infrastructure would cause them to miss out on the market opportunity for large road locomotives. Engineering and assembly work was subcontracted out to General Electric, which produced the locomotives at its Erie, Pennsylvania, facility, thereby giving rise to the name "Erie-built."
The P-12-42, also known as the Speed Merchant, was a streamlined, 1,200 hp (890 kW) locomotive built between 1957–1958 by Fairbanks-Morse, specifically to operate on each end of the Talgo train produced by American Car and Foundry. This model represented F-M's attempted entry into the lightweight locomotive market, but only four of the low-slung units were produced: the first pair was purchased by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad for their John Quincy Adams train, while the second pair went to the Boston and Maine Railroad for their Speed Merchant train.
The OP800 was a lightweight, streamlined railcar built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1939. Fairbanks-Morse supplied the 800 hp (600 kW), five-cylinder 8 in × 10 in opposed piston engine prime mover. The units were configured in a highly unusual 2-A1A wheel arrangement (later converted to 3-A1A) mounted atop a pair of road trucks, and equipped with a front swing coupler pilot. The aft section was divided into two separate compartments: one was used to transport baggage and the other served as a small railway post office, or RPO.
The EMD GP49 is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. Power was provided by an EMD 645F3B 12-cylinder engine which generated 2,800 horsepower (2.09 MW). The GP49 was marketed as one of four models in the 50 series introduced in 1979. The 50 series includes GP/SD49 and GP/SD50. Both the GP and SD50 were relatively popular with a total of 278 GP50s and 427 SD50s built. The SD49 was advertised but never built and a total of nine GP49s were built.