New Haven H16-44 #1611

 Greetings All,

In 1956 the New Haven RR purchased fifteen of the later boxy styled H16-44s built by Fairbanks Morse numbered 1600-1614. The units featured an eight cylinder opposed piston engine upgraded to 1600 HP and four wheel trucks.

On January 01, 1969 when the New Haven RR became a part of the Penn Central the fifteen H16-44s were added to the PC roster.  

As my prototype knowledge of the Penn Central and its predecessor railroads grows I wanted to enhance my New Haven fleet to more accurately reflect the years 1968 thru 1970.   

The first project was the ex NH Alco FA-FB-FA project. In the upper left of the photo you can see three of my NH H16-44s.

The second project was to send my Athearn fantasy NH SDP40 to my freelanced Empire Belt RR where it has found a good home.

Now owned by the EBRR the NH SDP-40 fits right into this freelanced railroad and SDP-40 consist.

With updating my New Haven roster in mind I came across a new in the box Spectrum New Haven H16-44 #1611 on ebay. The unit was was offered for sale as running but not well with a loud screeching noise.

The Spectrum H16-44 was advertised as a "Baby Trainmaster". Having several of these units I took a chance that I could fix it and add it to my fleet.

Here is the unit upon opening the box. The 1611 is a number not already on my roster. I made a decent best offer that was accepted so if the running issues could not be repaired I would use the engine as a dummy unit for about the same price as a new shell.

The new H16-44 ran as advertised. Terrible and loud!!!

To the work bench we go! 

The H16-44s mirror some of the other Spectrum units with no wiring and a split frame. The power trucks are easily removed and the thrust bearings oiled.

These bearing have a habit of drying out and this is an easy fix. After twenty plus years in the box it's no wonder the bearings were dry and this is what I was thinking when I made the offer.

Not such an easy fix was removing the motor and replacing the broken motor mount with double sided foam tape. A dry motor bearing is also a common cause for the screeching noise. A drop of oil will fix that but don't use too much.

The 1611 is back together and running nice and quiet!

The 1611 leads a four unit New Haven set of H16-44s past RA Tower.

The New Haven H16-44s haul Trains NH-2 and NH-1.

The 1611 is the trailing unit on Train NH-2 pulling into Terminal Yard.

The four H16-44s are in the engine terminal and get the approval of the 1:87 scale railfans. Like the FM H24-66 #6702 in the prior post the FM H16-44s would have a short PC career but rest assured they will enjoy a long career on the NYCTL! 

I must say this four engine consist has become one of my favorite lash ups. They look good, run good and have terrific pulling power.

Prototypical Tidbits:

The fifteen New Haven H16-44s were delivered in a McGinnis type paint scheme and were used to power both passenger and freight trains in 1956 and 1957. (New Haven Trackside with Thomas J. McNamara by Jeremy F Plant) 

At least one of the NH RRs H16-44s received an orange body with a black cab and frame paint job like this photo of NH #1609. This unit would retain this paint scheme into the PC era and was renumbered to 5169 as shown in this photo. 

The New Haven RRs fifteen H16-44s were renumbered by the PC in 1969 to 5160-5174 and were eventually shipped off to it's Chicago terminal where all remaining PRR-NYC FMs were based to provide easier geographic access to the FM parts supply in Beloit, WI. (source Penn Central Power). 

Thanks for reading and watching!!! 

See  you soon!!!