The H-24-66, or Train Master, is a diesel-electric

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

produced by

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Founded in 1823 as a manufacturer of weighing scale, weighing scales, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinder ...

and its licensee,

Canadian Locomotive Company The Canadian Locomotive Company, commonly referred to as CLC, was a Canadian manufacturer of railway locomotives in Kingston, Ontario. Its works were on the south side of Ontario Street between William and Gore streets on Kingston's waterfront. ...

. These six-axle

hood unit A hood unit, in North American railroad terminology, is a body style for diesel and electric locomotives where the body is less than full-width for most of its length and walkways are on the outside. In contrast, a cab unit has a full-width ca ...

road switcher A road switcher locomotive is a type of railroad locomotive designed to both haul railroad car, railcars in mainline service and Shunting (rail), shunt them in railroad yards. Both type and term are North American in origin, although similar t ...

s were used in the United States and Canada during the 1950s. They were the successor to the unsuccessful Consolidated line of

cab unit In North American railroad terminology, a cab unit is a railroad locomotive with its own cab and controls. "Carbody unit" is a related term, which may be either a cabless booster unit controlled from a linked cab unit, or a cab unit that con ...

s produced by F-M and CLC in the 1950s. Each locomotive produced 2,400

horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

(1.8 MW). Like other F-M locomotives, the Train Master used an opposed-piston

prime mover Prime mover may refer to: Philosophy *Unmoved mover, a concept in Aristotle's writings Engineering * Prime mover (engine or motor), a machine that converts various other forms of energy (chemical, electrical, fluid pressure/flow, etc.) into ener ...

. It rode on a pair of drop-equalized three-axle "Trimount"

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

, giving it a C-C wheel arrangement.

Overview

Advertised by Fairbanks-Morse as "the most useful locomotive ever built", the 2,400-horsepower (1.8 MW) H-24-66 Train Master was the most powerful single-engine diesel locomotive at its introduction in 1953. No competitor offered a locomotive with an equal horsepower rating until the ALCO RSD-7 entered production in January 1954. EMD followed suit in July 1958 with the SD24, and GE introduced their U25C in September 1963. While some railroads saw advantages in the Train Master's greater power, others thought the unit had too much horsepower. Other drawbacks were the difficulties inherent in maintaining the opposed-piston engine, inadequacies in the electrical system, and a higher-than-normal consumption of cooling water. All these contributed to poor market acceptance of the Train Masters—and ultimately the departure of F-M and CLC from the locomotive business.

Variations

Three carbody variants were produced. Phase 1a units had air-intake louvers in a continuous line along the top of the long hood and a wide separating strip between the radiator fans. Phase 1b had a "dip" in the long hood handrails to better follow the side walkways. Phase 2 units had fewer air-intake louvers, with large gaps separating them, and the radiators themselves were divided by a tiny metal strip.

Units manufactured by Fairbanks-Morse (1953–1957)

Units manufactured by the Canadian Locomotive Company (1956)

Preservation

Only one Train Master locomotive has survived intact: former

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

(CPR) H-24-66 #8905 is preserved on static display at the

Canadian Railway Museum The Canadian Railway Museum () ''Musée ferroviaire canadien''), operating under the brand name Exporail in both official languages, is a rail transport museum in Saint-Constant, Quebec, Canada, on Montreal's south shore. Collection Establishe ...

Saint-Constant, Quebec Saint-Constant () is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of Montreal in the Roussillon Regional County Municipality of the Montérégie region. The population as of the Canada 2016 Census was 27,359. Histo ...

. Some former

Virginian Railway The Virginian Railway was a Class I railroad located in Virginia and West Virginia in the United States. The VGN was created to transport high quality "smokeless" bituminous coal from southern West Virginia to port at Hampton Roads. History ...

Train Masters were rebuilt into slugs by the

Norfolk and Western Railway The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

; they survived well into

Norfolk Southern The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company was formed in 1982 with the merger of the Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. The comp ...

service. One is preserved at the Reading Railroad Heritage Museum in

Hamburg, Pennsylvania Hamburg (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania German: ''Hambarig'') is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,270 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is though ...

References

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External links

Fairbanks-Morse Train Master Sales Booklet: The Lackawanna Story

Fairbanks-Morse H24-66 Roster

Preserved Fairbanks Morse Six-Axle Road Switchers

Canadian Pacific Railway CLC Locomotives

Train Master slugs
{{CLC diesels Diesel–electric locomotives of Canada C-C locomotives Train Master CLC locomotives Diesel–electric locomotives of the United States Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1953 Canadian National Railway locomotives Canadian Pacific Railway locomotives Delaware, Lackawanna and Western locomotives Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives Philadelphia and Reading Railroad locomotives Southern Pacific Railroad locomotives Virginian Railway locomotives