FM Train Masters????

[Anonymous]

Who all owned these? I just picked up a brass undecorated pretty cheap, now its time to paint. I know PRR had them, but who else? Any pics?

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by csxmu

Who all owned these? I just picked up a brass undecorated pretty cheap, now its time to paint. I know PRR had them, but who else? Any pics?

Erie-Lackawanna owned some, as did Wabash, CNJ owned some, and I believe the Virginian dieselized with FM units (not all of them Trainmasters).

However, the most famous of the Trainmasters were those used by Southern Pacific in commute service between San Jose, CA, and San Francisco. http://www.trainweb.org/fredatsf/commute.htm

I remember New Year, 1971, vividly because someone had connected a steam whistle to the train heat boiler of a Trainmaster at the Lenzen Ave. engine terminal in San Jose. At the stroke of midnight, the whistle was blown repeatedly. At least 5 other railfans showed up at the roundhouse that night, myself included.

Andre

[Anonymous]

The Train Masters are interesting diesels to model. SP did love them for their quick throttle response on the San Francisco to San Jose commutes. Their opposed cylinder diesel was a design that FM created for submarines.

Railroads that owned them were: CN, CP, CNJ, Lackawanna, Pennsy, Reading, SP, Southern (which I think is the most attractive paint scheme of all with green, white, gold stripes), Virginian, and Wabash. Virginian purchased the most units, and also the very last TM made. In SP they were delivered in the black-widow scheme and then updated in a few years to the then current scarlet and gray scheme.

[passengerfan]

The CPR with the Maroon and Gray scheme was very attractive. The CPR assigned their trainmasters to the Kettle Valley route i believe out of Nelson B.C. It was a rather obscure area for railfans to visit but they probably were among the last of their kind in service. As far as I know they were all repainted in the red scheme when the corporate logo was changed to CP Rail. It was mentioned in an earlier reply about the SP San Francisco - San Jose commutes operated with trainmasters. They operated in that service for years and gave outstanding service. Most other roads retired them early ans sent them to scrap but CP and SP each based them out of one maintenance base the reason for their longevity on these roads.

[cefinkjr]

Pittsburgh & West Virginia had some Trainmasters but I'm not sure whether they were 'Baby Trainmasters' or the higher horsepower version. I do recall them being blamed for numerous fires near the P&WV right of way in southwestern PA.

Chuck

[Anonymous]

The P&WV had no Train Masters on there roster. The had FM H20-44 and
H 16-44 models, of the H 16-44 they had only 4 and they were in the late style carbody that looked like TM's, but much smaller.

[Anonymous]

If you are interested in painting your unit in Wabash paint, be careful what number you apply if you are a stickler for being historically accurate. Some of Wabash units had lower end platforms so they would be even with products from EMD and Alco. I believe there was another railroad whose FM units had the same feature…..but I cannot remember right now off the top of my head. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

I think this will be the scheme! Thanks Conrail for the incentive!



What are the correct colors for this blue white and gray scheme? CSX gray white, and what color blue?

[Anonymous]

On the subject of Trainmasters, can anybody tell me the correct hood width? According to the article " Modeler's guide to passenger diesels" (Model Railroader, Nov. '05) the Athearn Trainmaster's hood is too wide-it scales out at 7 feet. Model Railroader Locomotive cyclopedia vol.2 shows the hood width as 7 feet. Which is right?

[ndbprr]

Sheesh! Nobody is going to mention the purest fleet of all on the Virginian? A classic black and yellow stripe scheme. Also add Reading, CNJ, N&W, One or two in Mexico (chihuahua Pacific I think).

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The TM's that wound up in Mexico were second-hand from EL by way of a dealer. The Waba***M's also were re-powered with 251 engines prior to the N&W merger. CNJ TM's also spent some of their time in suburban service.

Financing may have played an interesting part in a minor renumbering of some of the ex-VGN units near the end of their service. Several were re-numbered in turn into the N&W 3592 (ex-WAB) series to replace the original re-powered TM's that had been retired. I have read that this occurred in order to keep a locomotive as security for a specific equipment trust.

[David_Telesha]

Although they never purchased any H24-66 units, the New Haven tested the demo units in 1953. There may have been some serious interest in these from the Dumaine Administration as there was concept artwork done showing these in the NH's classic pre-War designed green and gold paint scheme used on electrics and road (cab) diesels - but never before on hood units like the Trainmaster.

There are pictures in and on the cover of Morning Sun Book's NH Trackside with Art Mitchell of these units together hauling heavy freight on the Shoreline - I'm not sure if they tested in passenger service although I seem to possibly recall a picture of one or the pair on a Hartford Division passenger train headed to Springfield, MA.

I might pick up a pair of Atlas demo's for my layout.

The NH's only "standard" Fairbanks Morse units were 10 Lowey (1951) and 15 non-Lowey (1956) H16-44's and 10 CPA24-5 cab units (1951) - then there was the 392-seat "Dan'l Webster" high-speed "Train of the Future" set built in 1956 consisting of locomotives 3000-3001 and several intermediate cars - but thats another story.

[Anonymous]

A quick note on CP's trainmasters. None were ever repainted in the action red paint scheme nor for that matter in the preceding tuscan red and gray with the script lettering. The last paint they received was the tuscan red and gray with block letter, with the short hood as front. (They were delivered with the long hood as front but were changed around in 1959 and 1960).

In the late 1960s and early 1970s the last handful were assigned to heavy switching and transfer service around the Cominco smelter in Trail, B.C., with maintenance at the Nelson B.C. shop. When the remainder of the FM fleet was retired in spring 1975 the last three (8900, 8904 and 8905) were transferred to Calgary where they served until April 1976.

Interestingly, the only preserved trainmaster is CP 8905 which is at the railway museum in Delson, Quebec.

[Anonymous]

Didn't CP have at least one TM with a full-width short hood (same width as cab) to accomidate two steam generators?

[Anonymous]

Yes, as delivered 8901 to 8904 had dual steam generators in a short hood that was the same width as the cab (very odd looking units). They were converted to normal width hoods when changed to run short hood forward, for obvious reasons. I believe the steam generators were completely removed at the same time, though as I recall CP considered keeping them in, but with less access space around them (the reason for the wider short hood).

Also, CP 8900 had a single steam generator in a regular short hood, removed sometime in the early 1960s.

Good data on CP diesels to about 1980 can be found in "Canadian Pacific Diesel Locomotives" by Dean and Hanna.

[trainboyH16-44]

The CP's kettle valley route was very good, as they ran with most of CP's F-Ms until the '70s. The C-Liners as well as the trainmasters were not painted in action red, only the H16-44.
Many of the CP lines from Midway to the Coquihalla pass are now recreational trails, and great for biking daytrips!
Sorry there is nothing really to contribute to this.
Matthew

[Morpar]

I think the C&NW had some too. I remember an article shortly after the Athearn model came out on doing one for that road. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Leon Silverman]

Raymonhuon:
The comment about the Athearn hoods being too wide generally applied to the earlier models of EMD units. The older motor was too wide to fit into a scale width hood, necessitating the extra width. The Trainmaster, having a wider hood to begin with, could be manufactured with a prototypical scale width hood and still accomodate the older motor.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

C&NW did not own any TM's. They owned 51 H16-66's, the so-called "Baby Train Master", in various number series and in both the Loewy and later body styles. They spent much of their time in ore service in the Upper Peninsula.

[Anonymous]

SP also used the Trainmasters on such freight runs as the Kaiser Permenente cenemt plant run at night. Good haulers with lots of tractive effort to haul the empies in and the full covered hoppers out of the plant.

[ndbprr]

Kind of off topic but the FM plant still exists in Beloit, Wi and has a minor display in their lobby of their history. Also in Beloit is an FM switcher on top of a truss bridge spanning the ROck River about 1/4 mile from the plant. Most unusual location.

[dragonriversteel]

Along with the others listed above. N&W own a few and then their shops made SLUGS out of them for hump service. I think some norfolk southern hump yards still have them in service. I could be wrong about NS though.

Patrick

[Anonymous]

did the C628 that NW had then CNW bought and used in the UP of MI, not ride on FM trucks? IIRC it was the reason the did not last long as they road rough and the parts supply was scare for the trucks.