Louis (Nickel Plate Road)Ĭolumbia & Cowlitz Railway (Weyerhaeuser) LouisĬhicago & North Western (Chicago, St. Kirkland notes, FM's designs proved unsatisfactory and some future switchers reverted back to Westinghouse equipment. Later, the first units to roll out of Beloit with all FM electrical equipment was Wabash #382-383 in March, 1949. The first locomotives to use Westinghouse traction motors in conjunction with FM generators was a batch of nine units manufactured for the Nickel Plate Road between December, 1948 and April, 1949 (#125-133). In addition, during the course of production, FM tried to enter the field of traction motors and its auxiliary equipment (generators, fans, etc.). In doing so, Westinghouse switched to slightly different models of the electrical equipment it supplied FM, which will be noted in the below data sheets.īaltimore & Ohio #306-307, completed in December, 1948, were the first units to feature the updated 75-volt system and internal equipment. This was to conform to Association of American Railroads (AAR), industry standards. The engine was a proven rugged design as Kirkland notes their issue were largely one of maintenance personnel being unfamiliar with them during an era when Electro-Motive was the primary motive power on many railroads.ĭuring the course of production there was one major change to the H10-44, a switch from a 125-volt to 75-volt control system.
While the H10-44 was only marginally successful from a sales standpoint (195 units were ultimately produced), it is not necessarily because Fairbanks Morse's models were unreliable. Each 4 regarded four axles and four traction motors.Helped immensely in getting a train moving quickly.įM's modeling designation was rather straightforward, although the use of "H" to designate "Hood" became confusing when the company released road-switchers with a similar hood only on a longer carbody. Simply not match this this ability, among other things, Similar models offered by Alco and EMD could H10-44 could produce 72,000 pounds of starting tractive effort andģ4,000 pounds continuous. Opposed-piston design no one could argue with the incredible tractiveĮffort and pulling power its locomotives offered. While some railroads and shop forces complained of FM's complicated Kirkland notes, the switcher was essentially a Baldwin design with an O-P engine.įairbanks-Morse adopted many Baldwin features into its initial including the use, once more, of Westinghouse for all electrical equipment. The H10-44 featured B-B trucks and a high hood with the cab off-set to one end. Of course, the trade off was excess burn-off during startup as lube oil occasionally found its way into the exhaust gas passages and two crankshafts meant a more finely detailed understanding of maintaining the power plant. There was also the advantage of having headless cylinders the two pistons worked vertically within a central chamber. The 8-cylinder, 1,600 version of the O-P was touted by FM as having " 237 fewer working parts than an EMD model 567-16 cylinder 8 ½" x 10" engine (1,500 horsepower) and 118 fewer working parts than an Alco model 244 12-cylinder 9" x 10 ½" engine (1,500 horsepower)." The H10-44 began production in August, 1944 it was capable of producingġ,000 horsepower using Fairbanks Morse's 2-cycle 38D8 1/8 opposed-piston Soon after, the locomotive was renumbered 97. After delivery to Reading on Decemit entered service at Wayne Junction, Philadelphia on January 4, 1940. Once again Westinghouse supplied all electrical equipment. It featured a pair of model 46A86, 4-cycle engines that could produce 300 horsepower each for a total of 600 horsepower.
Louis Car and somewhat resembled a beefed-up General Electric design from the same era. The switcher was also manufactured by St. As such, it is recognized as the first locomotive to feature an FM diesel engine. It was, however, not powered by an O-P engine (but did utilize an FM prime mover). The Reading's switcher, numbered 35, also entered service in 1939. Louis Car), numbered as Southern MT1-MT4 and Alabama Great Southern MT40-MT41.Īll internal electrical equipment was supplied by Westinghouse, which also supplied Baldwin with most of its diesel locomotives. The rail cars could produce 800 horsepower and pulled powerless, 76-seat coaches (also built by St. The six units numbered as Southern 1-4 and Alabama Great Southern 40-41, entered service in 1939. The cars were essentially used for baggage with the carbodies manufactured by the St. The former was the first to utilize FM's 2-cycle, 38D8 1/8 O-P prime mover. As John Kirkland points out in his book, " The Diesel Builders: Fairbanks-Morse And Lima-Hamilton," the heritage of what became the H10-44 has many "firsts" but can essentially be traced back to two test-bed models FM manufactured for the Southern Railway and Reading: a diesel-powered rail car and a small switcher.