Vintage Varney ID's?? EMD Ft's??

[TeddyB]

All!
I hope you can help me with Varney Diesel ID's? Are they EMD Ft's? What does the 1940 mean that's stamped on the back side? IS it the date of mfg.?

Many thanks, TedB

[Anonymous]

I don't know if they're Varneys, but they appear to be either Phase I F-3's, or F-2's, given the presence of a center porthole...FT's had four closely-spaced portholes (yes, I'm a big-time F-unit fan)!!! Sorry I cannot answer the rest of your question!

[jimrice4449]

They look like Varney F-3s (the F-2s were identical in appearance differing only in lower horsepower and were generally teamed with FT AB sets for service that didn't require 4 units)
The model was marketed by Varney around 1946 or 47 and sold (if memory serves) for $19.50 with a really atrocious spring/pully drive on only one truck. If that price seems attractive remember that gas sold for around a quarter a gallon and the minimumwage was $.75 per hour. The 1940 date might refer to when the die was cut, WWII intervening to delay completion of the project..

[Anonymous]

My old Varney Parts Catalog lists it as an F3. Built a 3 unit diesel for my younger brother around 1948.
The advertising catalog, thought, doesn't identify it as to what type of F unit and has the price of a powered A unit at $19.75, unpowered at $7.50. The B units were priced the same.

The 3 step pulley on the motor shaft powered a 3 step pulley on the drive shaft with a spring. Miserable. But since the pulleys faced opposite directions, you could have a fast passenger unit or a slow moving freight engine.

Built a Varney super Mike and an economy Pacific. The mike cost 57.50 and was a whole bunch of parts. The diesel went together in one night. Took a month on the mike. The pacific was cheaper but with less features and cost only 37.50.

In 48, gas was around 19 cents a gallon and my first job as a telegrapher paid 1.25 an hour.

Varney kits were better than Mantua's. But all of them still are runnable today.
Art

[Anonymous]

TeddyB: In response to your question of what actual EMD model is the Varney diesel a model of, I have the Kalmbach "Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years" and it states that all FT's had 4 port holes on the sides.
F2's and early F3's had 3 port holes on both A and B units.
Later F3's, and the models that followed - including the F9, had the middle port hole omitted on the A units but B units continued to have 3. Of course rework by the various companies and special orders resulted in many variation.
The Varney models had 3 port holes on both the A and B units
EMD built only 74 F2A units and only 30 F2 B units in 1946 from July to November.
The other models numbered in the thousands.