From 1944, Fairbanks-Morse offered the H-10-44 as a yard switcher with a two-stroke, six-cylinder, opposed-piston engine. The exterior was designed by Raymond Loewy, which could be recognized by a slanted nose, sloping shapes and a protruding cab roof. After many had been later set to 1,200 hp, the H-12-44 with the same power was offered from 1950. From 1952 the exterior was simplified to save on production costs. The H-12-44TS was a road switcher with a short hood in front of the cab. This variant was only built three times for the ATSF.

After the H-10-44 switcher, Fairbanks-Morse introduced the first road switcher in 1947. Here, too, not only was a variant of the same opposed-piston diesel used, but also again the exterior design by Raymond Loewy with rounded shapes. They were optionally available with a steam boiler so that they could also be used in front of passenger trains.

The first model was the H-20-44, the designation standing for 2,000 hp and four driven axles out of a total of four. The engine here had ten cylinders and its output represented a top value for four-axle diesel locomotives. The cab was located at the end of the locomotive, whereby the short front end was omitted. A total of 96 examples were made between June 1947 and March 1954, all of which went to US customers. For cost reasons, a simpler form of the locomotive body was chosen for the last locomotives, which used fewer curves. A six-axle variant H-20-66 was planned, but was not realized due to a lack of orders.

Two H-20-44s of the Pennsylvania Railroad in August 1970 at Baltimore, Maryland

Roger Puta

Three months after the H-20-44, production of the H-15-44 started, which featured an eight-cylinder, 1,500 hp variant of the engine. It also now had a short hood, as found on other road switchers. 35 examples had been delivered to US customers by 1950, when production switched to the H-16-44. With an output increased by 100 hp, 209 units were delivered to US customers and another 32 were exported to Mexico. In addition, 58 examples were built at the Canadian Locomotive Company, which were only intended for the Canadian market.

As Fairbanks-Morse had outsourced the production of their post-war “Erie-built” to GE what had been costly, they developed the Consolidated line for production in their own shops. While the general layout, dimensions and the appearance of the car body were roughly the same, they changed many parts which they now could manufacture on their own. The prime mover was still of the two-stroke opposed-piston 38D-8 1/8 type. While the locomotives for the US market were built in-house, all for Canadian customers were built by the Canadian Locomotive Company.

Passenger variants were offered with 1,600, 2,000 and 2,400 hp and with different gear ratios up to 110 mph. Variants which exceeded an axle load of 66,000 pounds due to a large train heating boiler or a huge engine were built with a rear three-axle truck of A1A layout. The type designations for all these “Consolidated Passenger A-unit” variants started with “CPA”, followed by the power rating in hundreds of horsepower and the number of axles. In the same way, the cabless B-units started with “CPB”.

As Fairbanks-Morse had outsourced the production of their post-war “Erie-built” to GE what had been costly, they developed the Consolidated line for production in their own shops. While the general layout, dimensions and the appearance of the car body were roughly the same, they changed many parts which they now could manufacture on their own. The prime mover was still of the two-stroke opposed-piston 38D-8 1/8 type. While the locomotives for the US market were built in-house, all for Canadian customers were built by the Canadian Locomotive Company.

Freight variants were offered with 1,600, 2,000 and 2,400 hp and with different gear ratios starting from 65 mph. While also passenger variants with the twelve-cylinder 2,400 hp engine had been built, no freight variants with this option had been ordered. The type designations for all these “Consolidated Freight A-unit” variants started with “CFA”, followed by the power rating in hundreds of horsepower and the number of axles. In the same way, the cabless B-units started with “CFB”.

As a successor to the Consolidation line, Fairbanks-Morse offered the “Train Master” from 1953. After four-axle road switchers had already been manufactured from 1947, this six-axle locomotive was also designed in this form. As a result, there were now narrow hoods in the highest power class which offered good visibility in both directions of travel. The model designation indicated 2,400 hp and six out of six powered axles.

In 1953, the twelve-cylinder opposed-piston diesel from the most powerful variant of the Consolidation was still the most powerful single diesel engine in a locomotive. It was not until 1958 that EMD was able to offer a locomotive with the same power. At the time of the H-24-66, this power was still considered too high by some railway companies. The increased maintenance requirements of the engine and other shortcomings ultimately meant that Fairbanks-Morse, including the demonstrators, could only produce 107 of these locomotives and the Canadian licensee was only able to sell 20 more.