FM H-24-66

FM H-24-66 Train Master

Canadian Pacific Railway #8909, a CLC H-24-66 or "Train Master."
Type and origin
Power type Diesel-electric
Builder Fairbanks-Morse
Build date April 1953–June 1957
Total produced 127
Specifications
AAR wheel arr. C-C
Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Trucks Baldwin-style Commonwealth
Length 66 ft 0 in (20.12 m)
Loco weight 375,000 lb (170,000 kg; 170 t)
Prime mover 38D-12
Engine type 12-cylinders, Opposed piston two-stroke diesel
Aspiration Roots blower
Displacement 12,443 cu in (203.90 L)
Generator DC
Traction motors 6x WE 370DE2 DC traction motors (standard)
6x GE 752 DC traction motors
Cylinders 12
Cylinder size 8.125 in × 10 in (206 mm × 254 mm)
Transmission Diesel-electric
Loco brake 24RL air, Dynamic
Train brakes Air
Performance figures
Maximum speed 65 mph (105 km/h) / 80 mph (130 km/h)
Power output 2,400 hp (1.79 MW)
Tractive effort 112,000 lbf (498.2 kN)
Career
Locale North America

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 switchers, 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 units 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.

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, 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.

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 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 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 3022–3035 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 and Western Railway Train Master slugs survived well into Norfolk Southern service with one currently preserved at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum.

References

Further reading

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