FM H-24-66
Encyclopedia
The H-24-66 was a diesel-electric railway locomotive
model produced by Fairbanks-Morse
and its Canadian
licensee, the Canadian Locomotive Company
. These six-axle hood unit
road switcher
s, known as Train Masters were deployed in the United States and Canada during the 1950s. Each locomotive produced 2,400 horsepower
(1.8 MW). They were the successor to the ultimately unsuccessful Consolidated line of cab unit
s produced by F-M and CLC in the 1950s. In common with other F-M locomotives, the Train Master units employed an opposed piston
-design prime mover
. The official model designation was H-24-66 and rode on a pair of drop equalized three-axle "Trimount" trucks
giving it an C-C wheel arrangement.
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, legendary for its pulling power and rapid acceleration. 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. Perhaps it was simply ahead of its time, as no competitor offered a locomotive with an equal horsepower rating until the ALCO RSD-7
entered production in January, 1954 (As an aside, the EMD SD24
did not arrive on the scene until July, 1958, and GE did not introduce their U25C
until September, 1963). Both F-M and CLC ultimately left the locomotive business.
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
.
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
model produced by Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks-Morse
Fairbanks Morse and Company was a manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, locomotives and industrial supplies until it was merged in 1958...
and its Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
licensee, the Canadian Locomotive Company
Canadian Locomotive Company
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 Ontario Street and Gore Street on Kingston's waterfront....
. These six-axle hood unit
Hood unit
A hood unit, in railroad terminology, is a body style for diesel and electric locomotives. On a hood unit, the body of the locomotive is less than full-width for most of the locomotive's length, with walkways on the outside of the locomotive. In contrast, a cab unit has a full-width carbody for...
road switcher
Road switcher
A road switcher is a type of railroad locomotive used for delivering or picking up cars outside of a railroad yard. Since the road switcher must work some distance away from a yard, it needs to be able to operate at road speeds, it must also have high-visibility while it is switching, and it must...
s, known as Train Masters were deployed in the United States and Canada during the 1950s. Each locomotive produced 2,400 horsepower
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
(1.8 MW). They were the successor to the ultimately unsuccessful Consolidated line of cab unit
Cab unit
A cab unit and a carbody unit are body styles of locomotives in railroad terminology. While closely related, they are not exactly the same....
s produced by F-M and CLC in the 1950s. In common with other F-M locomotives, the Train Master units employed an opposed piston
Opposed piston engine
An opposed-piston engine is a reciprocating internal combustion engine in which each cylinder has a piston at both ends, and no cylinder head.-Configurations:...
-design prime mover
Prime mover (locomotive)
In engineering, a prime mover is an engine that converts fuel to useful work. In locomotives, the prime mover is thus the source of power for its propulsion. The term is generally used when discussing any locomotive powered by an internal combustion engine...
. The official model designation was H-24-66 and rode on a pair of drop equalized three-axle "Trimount" trucks
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...
giving it an C-C wheel arrangement.
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, legendary for its pulling power and rapid acceleration. 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. Perhaps it was simply ahead of its time, as no competitor offered a locomotive with an equal horsepower rating until the ALCO RSD-7
ALCO RSD-7
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...
entered production in January, 1954 (As an aside, the EMD SD24
EMD SD24
The EMD SD24 was a 2,400 hp C-C diesel locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July, 1958 and March, 1963. A total of 224 units were built for customers in the United States, comprising 179 regular, cab-equipped locomotives and 45 cabless B...
did not arrive on the scene until July, 1958, and GE did not introduce their U25C
GE U25C
The U25C was General Electric's first six-axle road switcher intended for the United States domestic market. Launched in September 1963, it remained in production until December 1965. It was replaced by the U28C.-External links:* Sarberenyi, Robert. ...
until September, 1963). Both F-M and CLC ultimately left the locomotive business.
Only one Train Master locomotive has survived intact — former Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
(CPR) H-24-66 #8905 is now owned by the Canadian Railroad Historical Association, which operates the Canadian Railway Museum
Canadian Railway Museum
The Canadian Railway Museum Musée Ferrovaire Canadien) is a rail transport museum in Delson/Saint-Constant, Quebec south of Montreal.-Collection:...
in Saint-Constant, Quebec
Saint-Constant, Quebec
Saint-Constant is an off-island suburb of Montreal in the Roussillon Regional County Municipality of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 23,957.-Population:Population trend-Language:...
.
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 Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks Morse and Company was a manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, locomotives and industrial supplies until it was merged in 1958... (demonstrator units) |
4 | TM-1 – TM-4 | TM-1 & TM-2 to Wabash Railroad Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including trackage in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit,... 550–551; TM-3 & TM-4 to Southern Pacific 4800–4801/3020–3021 |
| Canadian National Railway Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad".... |
1 | 3000 | Demonstration unit, painted for, but not purchased by, CN |
| Canadian Pacific Railway Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001... |
1 | 8900 | Only CPR Trainmaster built by FM (not CLC). Delivered with a single steam generator. Remaining (twenty) CPR Trainmasters (8901-8920) built by CLC (see below). |
| Central Railroad of New Jersey Central Railroad of New Jersey The Central Railroad of New Jersey , commonly known as the Jersey Central Lines or CNJ, was a Class I railroad with origins in the 1830s, lasting until 1976 when it was absorbed into Conrail with the other bankrupt railroads of the Northeastern United States... |
13 | 2401–2413 | |
| Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Company was a railroad connecting Pennsylvania's Lackawanna Valley, rich in anthracite coal, to Hoboken, New Jersey, , Buffalo and Oswego, New York... |
12 | 850–861 | to Erie Lackawanna Railroad 1850–1861 |
| Pennsylvania Railroad Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.... |
9 | 8699–8707 | to Penn Central 6700–6708 |
| Reading Company Reading Company The Reading Company , usually called the Reading Railroad, officially the Philadelphia and Reading Rail Road and then the Philadelphia and Reading Railway until 1924, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states... |
17 | 800–808, 860–867 | |
| Southern Pacific | 14 | 4802–4815, 4800-4815 | Renumbered 3022–3035 in 1965 |
| Southern Railway Southern Railway (US) The Southern Railway is a former United States railroad. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894... (CNO&TP Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway is a railroad that runs from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, forming part of the Norfolk Southern Railway system. The rail line that it operates, the Cincinnati Southern Railway, is owned by the City of Cincinnati and is... ) |
5 | 6300–6304 | |
| Virginian Railway Virginian Railway The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads.... |
25 | 50–74 | to Norfolk and Western Railway Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence.... 150–174 |
| Wabash Railroad Wabash Railroad The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including trackage in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri and Ontario. Its primary connections included Chicago, Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, Detroit,... |
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 Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001... |
20 | 8901–8920 | CP No. 8905 is the only H-24-66 preserved. It can be seen at the Canadian Railway Museum in St-Constant, Quebec, Canada. |