Fairbanks-Morse

File:FM Opposed Piston Engine print advertisement 4-17-50.jpg

An April, 1950 print advertisement for Fairbanks-Morse opposed piston engines.

Fairbanks-Morse, located in Beloit, Wisconsin has specialized in the manufacture of opposed piston diesel engines for United States Naval vessels and railroad locomotives since 1932. The company also engaged in the building of diesel locomotives between 1944 and 1963. F-M is currently owned by EnPro Industries, and now also manufactures a line of natural gas and Dual fuel powered engines and generators. Ironically, in addition to its own designs, F-M has now acquired the rights to manufacture variants of the "251" series engines originally designed by its one-time competitor ALCO.

History

Railroad locomotives

Shortly after it won its first Navy contract, the company produced a 300 hp 5 x 6 engine that saw limited use in railcar applications on the B&O, Milwaukee Road, and a few other lines. Additionally, two of the 5 x 6s were placed in an experimental center cab switcher locomotive under development by the Reading Railroad (road #87, built in 1939 by the St. Louis Car Company, or SLCC, and scrapped in 1953). A 5 x 6 powered the plant switcher at F-M's manufacturing facility.

In 1939, the SLCC placed F-M 800 hp 8 x 10 engines in six streamlined railcars, which are known today as the FM OP800. In 1944, F-M began production of its own 1,000 hp yard switcher, the H-10-44. Milwaukee Road #760 (originally delivered as #1802), the first Fairbanks–Morse locomotive constructed in their own plant, is now preserved and on display at the Illinois Railway Museum. F-M, like other locomotive producers, was subject to strict wartime restrictions regarding the number and type of ralroad-related products they could manufacture. Following World War II, North American railways began phasing out their aging steam locomotives and sought to replace them with state-of-the-art diesel locomotives at an ever-increasing rate. Fairbanks-Morse, along with its competing firms, sought to capitalize on this new market opportunity. The Virginian Railway was an early advocate of FM power, buying the company's products to the exclusion of other manufacturers such as EMD and Baldwin.

In December, 1945 F-M produced its first streamlined, cab-equipped dual service diesel locomotive as direct competition to such models as the ALCO PA and EMD E-unit. Assembly of the 2,000 hp unit, which was mounted on a A1A-A1A wheelset, was subcontracted out to General Electric due to lack of space at F-M's Wisconsin plant. GE built the locomotives at its Erie, Pennsylvania facility, thereby giving rise to the name "Erie-built." F-M retained the services of renowned industrial designer Raymond Loewy to create a visually impressive carbody for the Erie-built. The line was only moderately successful, as a total of 82 cab and 28 booster units was sold through 1949, when production was ended. The Erie-built's successor was to be manufactured in Beloit and designed from the ground up; the result of this effort was the Consolidated line, or "C-liner" (one of the company's best-known products) which debuted in January, 1950.

Orders for the C-liners were initially received from the New York Central, followed by the Long Island Rail Road, the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Milwaukee Road and the New Haven. F-M design locomotives were also produced under license in Canada by the Canadian Locomotive Company. Orders to the CLC were also forthcoming in Canada from the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways. However, accounts of mechanical unreliability and poor technical support soon began to emerge. It quickly became apparent that the 2,400 h.p. Westinghouse generators were prone to failure, and the F-M prime movers initially suffered from relatively poor piston life and proved difficult to maintain. Moreover, railroads were quickly moving away from the cab unit type, and standardizing on road-switcher designs, as offered by the competition in the form of the EMD GP7 or the ALCO RS-3.

By 1952, orders had dried up in the United States, with a total production run of only 99 units. The units proved relatively more popular in Canada, particularly with the CP, and orders continued there until 1955. Several variants were only ever produced by the Canadian Locomotive Company, and Canadian roads accepted a total of 66 units. However, Westinghouse had announced in 1953 that it was leaving the locomotive equipment market, in part because of the generator reliability issues in the F-M units. This development made continuing production of the C-liners impractical without a redesign, and since marketplace acceptance was already marginal, the decision was made to end production.

With the Train Master series, F-M continued production of their own road-switcher designs, but these also ultimately proved unsuccessful in the marketplace. In the end, Fairbanks-Morse (perhaps realizing it could not overcome the competitive advantage firms such as EMD enjoyed from having been able to manufacture and promote their F units and other road diesels during the War years) decided to leave the locomotive market. F-M sold its last locomotive in the U.S. in 1958, and shipped its final unit to Mexico in 1963.

Seagoing diesel engines

Fairbanks-Morse opposed piston diesel engines on the submarine USS Pampanito.

Fairbanks-Morse diesel engines are widely used in United States Naval vessels.

References

• "Fairbanks-Morse 38D8 Diesel Engine". PSRM Diesel Locomotives. January 1. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
• . ISBN 0-89024-026-4. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |Author= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Publisher= ignored (|publisher= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Title= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |Year= ignored (|year= suggested) (help)

See also

• List of Fairbanks-Morse locomotives

External links

• Fairbanks-Morse official website

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