FM H-24-66

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
FM H-24-66 Train Master
Dynamic
Train brakesAir
Performance figures
Maximum speed65 mph (105 km/h) / 80 mph (130 km/h)
Power output2,400 hp (1.79 MW)
Tractive effort112,000 lbf (498.2 kN)
Career
LocaleNorth America

The H-24-66, or Train Master, was a

road switchers
were deployed in the United States and Canada during the 1950s.

They were the successor to the ultimately unsuccessful

opposed piston prime mover. The model rode on a pair of drop equalized three-axle "Trimount" trucks giving it a C-C
wheel arrangement.

Overview

Touted 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, the perception on the part of others that the unit had too much horsepower (coupled with the difficulties inherent in maintaining the opposed-piston engine, inadequacies in the electrical system, and a higher-than-normal consumption of cooling water) contributed to poor marketplace acceptance of the Train Masters. Because of this, both F-M and CLC ultimately left the locomotive business with both parties eventually ceasing to exist altogether.

Variations

Three different carbody variants were produced, and were differentiated as follows: Phase 1a units had their air intake louvers located in a continuous line along the top of the long hood, and a wide separating strip between the radiator fans; Phase 1b modifications were minor, consisting only of a "dip" in the long hood handrails that allowed them to better follow the profile of the side walkways; Phase 2 units boasted fewer air intake louvers, with large gaps separating them (the radiators themselves were divided by only a tiny metal strip).

Units manufactured by Fairbanks-Morse (1953–1957)

Railroad Quantity Road numbers Notes
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    

Units manufactured by the Canadian Locomotive Company (1956)

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.

Preservation

Only one Train Master locomotive has survived intact — former Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) H-24-66 #8905 is now owned by the Canadian Railroad Historical Association, which operates the Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant, Quebec.

Former

Norfolk Southern service with one currently preserved at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in Hamburg, Pennsylvania
.

References

Further reading

External links