Locomotive Spotlight #6 / New York Central F-M C-Liners

Greetings All,

Locomotive Spotlight #6 / 2022

 New York Central Fairbanks Morse C-Liners

Today we'll take a look at the New York Central Fairbanks Morse Consolidation Line locomotives and my own A-B-A set from Proto 1000.

 Prototype Information

Diesel engine manufacturer Fairbanks-Morse entered the diesel electric locomotive market at the end of World War II. The F-M engines used an opposed piston design that employed two pistons facing each other in each cylinder. The advantage was that it produced significantly more horsepower than an EMD, Alco or Baldwin engine of the same cylinder count. 

In the late 1940s F-M introduced 2,000 and 2,400 horsepower locomotives more than a decade before other builders achieved the same power in single engine locomotives. 

In December 1945 Fairbanks-Morse produced its first streamlined cab/car body dual service diesel electric locomotive to compete with the Alco PA and EMD E units. These units were erected at General Electric's Erie PA plant which gave them the nickname Eries or Erie Builts. A total of 82 can units and 28 booster units were sold when production ended.

NYC Erie Builts 

The NYC purchased 14 Erie Builts that were delivered between 1947 and 1949. Of these six were geared for 97 miles per hour and intended for passenger service with the other eight geared for 79 mph and intended for fast freight service.

The 64' long NYC Erie Built A units (#5000-5005) were built for freight operations with a 2,000 HP 10 cylinder, opposed piston diesel engine that rode on A-1-A trucks. #5002 would be repowered with an EMD 567 engine in 1957

Erie Built 5003 idles away at Terminal Yard. The 5003 would also be repowered with an EMD 567 engine in 1957.

 

F-M cab less booster NYC #5101 contributes another 2000 HP to the Erie Built A-B-A consist. 

A single Erie Built was often seen powering the New York Central Pacemaker Freight Trains.

 C-Liners

A total of ninety nine C-Liners were built by F-M at their Beloit, Wisconsin plant between 1950 and 1952. 

Photo courtesy of OldOnliner, thru Creative Commons 

Another sixty six were built in Canada under license. 

 

The New York Central RR's thirty three Fairbanks Morse C-Liners gave the Central more C-Liners than any other railroad. The NYC received the first C-Liner built, #5006 and the last USA built unit #4507. Thru 1952 the Central was one of F-Ms best customers with the purchase of one hundred nineteen FM units.

 

The FM Consolidation Line was the company's attempt to market and erect locomotives with different options like high HP on the same frame. The C-Liners followed the F-M Erie Builts so named for being built in the GE Erie PA factory between 1945 and 1949. The C-Liners took many design cues from the Erie Builts and continued using the same opposed piston engines.

 

The C-Liners came with an eight cylinder 1,600 HP(CFA16-4A) and ten cylinder 2,000 HP(CFA20-4) version for both A and B units. A twelve cylinder 2,400(CPA24-5) passenger unit with a B, A-1-A axle arrangement for A units only.

The New York Central purchased all three of the above models. Eight CFA16-4A units(6600-6607) and four CFB16-4 units(6900-6903) were purchased in 1952 and retired in 1966.

Eight CPA24-5 passenger units (4500-4507). These units would also be repowered with EMD 567 engines in 1955 and 1956. All were retired in 1966 and later scrapped.

Twelve CFA20-4 units(5006-5017) and three CFB20-4 units(5102-5104). All would be repowered with EMD engines in 1955 and 1956 and later scrapped.

 

C-Liner Models

The New York Central Layout regularly runs this Proto 1000 C-Liner A-B-A set. These models are quite rugged with the A units having survived a four foot drop to the floor. After finding all the parts that came off and putting the units back together the only broken piece was the coupler on the lead unit.

CFA20-4 #5008 is still running well after 20 years of service and a big fall. These models have not been afflicted with the P-1000/P-2000 cracked gear problems. Knock on wood!

  

CFA20-4 #5013 burbles away in Terminal Yard as the trio awaits their next call to duty.

CFB20-4 #5102 required a modification to allow it to better mu with the A units. See below for more on that.

The 5000 series C-Liners were assigned to West Springfield for maintenance in order to cover some of the B&A assignments with the Erie Builts and FAs. Their 500 more horsepower per unit than the FAs did improve train speed and their heavier weight increased the tractive effort and low speeds.

An A-B-A set of C-Liners rests in the Terminal Yard engine terminal along side a an A-B-B-A set of FAs and FBs. 

Reliability issues with the C-Liners and Erie Builts allowed the Alcos to usurp the C-Liners as the preferred power to conquer the Berkshires. It took an ABBA set of Alco F1s and B1s to match the power output of the 5000 series A-B-A consist but the Alcos more than proved themselves on the New York Central and Boston & Albany.

Modifications

After adding the B unit I noticed that the B unit ran faster than the A units in Direct Control mode. I removed the circuit boards, hard wired the units and ended up adding a light in the B unit so all units would draw the same amperage. After this the units ran very well together. 

C-Liners in Action

Final Thoughts

The Erie Built and C-Liner models from Proto 2000 have been on the NYCTL roster for over 20 years and continue to provide excellent service. They are rugged, easy to maintain and can pull any tonnage I can come up with.

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

See you soon!!!

 

Freight Car Spotlight #7-2022 / Athearn D&TS 50' Boxcar #4053

 Greetings All,

Freight Car Spotlight #7-2022

Today's freight car spotlight will focus on this Athearn 50' double door Detroit & Toledo Shoreline boxcar #4053 that I purchased at an area train show in January 2022. 

The D&TS 4053 is an older kit and one I really wanted as soon as I saw it. As a fan of the Emery Gulash photos and videos the D&TS was a constant presence in his recording of railroad action. 

Prototype Information

The Detroit & Toledo Shoreline RR was a 50 mile Class 1 railroad jointly owned by the Nickel Plate and Grand Trunk Western. The RR was founded in 1903 and was absorbed into the GTW in 1981 after the GTW bought the 50% ex NKP share from Norfolk Southern.

The D&TS was a well maintained double tracked RR that featured a hump yard, CTC traffic control and became fully dieselized in 1953. Later locomotives, all EMD, were painted in a Nickel Plate RR scheme.

Most of the RRs revenue came from hauling bituminous coal from Toledo connections to industries in Southeast Michigan and Southern Ontario. Additional revenue came from hauling auto parts from Detroit to their Toledo connections.

Model Information 

The D&TS slogan boasted it being the "Expressway For Industry" as it ran under or along side the newly built Interstate 75. Car #4053 is in dedicated service and is to be returned when empty to the agent D&T Shoreline RR Detroit, MI.

A large square herald proudly shows the cars ownership.

The car is typical for an early Athearn Blue Box kit with a rusty weight and horn hook couplers.

The chassis, weight, trucks, coupler box lids and wheel faces have all been painted rattle can flat black. Proto 2000 metal wheelsets and Kadee #27 couplers have been installed.

The cars floor has been rattle can painted in gray primer and one ounce of additional weight has been added.

The car is assembled and tested on the height gauge.

The DT&S 4053 is now ready for service. A car card and waybill have been prepared for the car to haul auto parts from the Ford Rouge Plant in Detroit to my Bedford Park Ford Plant.

The D&TS 4053 makes its first delivery to the Bedford Park Ford Plant.

An empty car waybill directs the car to return to the Shoreline at Detroit, MI when empty in compliance with the D&TS car forwarding instructions on the car's sides.

Model to Prototype Comparison

Checking various RR websites I came across the following photographs of D&TS boxcars in the 4000 and 3600 series.

D&TS 4027 No date or location.

D&TS 4045 at Concord Ontario in 1970.

D&TS 3662 at Marshalltown, Iowa in 1969.

The above three cars closely resemble the model with the exception of the herald. The prototype herald has a red background and the model a black background.

Additional Comments

Having this boxcar running on the layout brings back memories of the Emery Gulash videos from Green Frog videos like the Penn Central Odyssey, New York Central Odyssey and Michigan Fast Freight and gives the car a time and place of origin that I both recognize and enjoy.

Empty Waybill Slips

I've adopted using an empty car slip or waybill for forwarding empty cars. The car card has a Return Empty To feature printed on it that is visible when you remove the waybill. Not wanting to have to store the waybills in a separate file the empty car slip allows the car to move loaded and empty with both waybills stored in the car card pocket.  

Additional Reading

Grand Trunk Wester RR Historical Society page about the Detroit & Toledo Shoreline.

Railroad Michigan

Small Model Railroads

The Detroit & Toledo Shoreline RR by Geletzke and Hague.

Thanks for reading!!!

See you soon!!!

 

Freight Car Spotlight #6-2022 / Upgrading T.O.F.C Service

 Greetings All,

As reported in prior blog posts one of my favorite types of railroad rolling stock is the Trailer or Container on Flatcar known as TOFC or COFC. 

Photo by Gary Lee Todd, PHD. Courtesy of Creative Commons

When I decided to attend a used merchandise sale at my local hobby shop, Trainmaster Models, my top priority was to look for tractors, trailers and single trailer flatcars. When I got the box of train goodies home I believe I achieved my goals to upgrade my TOFC traffic and rolling stock. Let's take a look.

Tractors & Trailers

My big train store haul from June 3rd, 2022 included four tractors and eleven trailers for increased TOFC traffic. All of the models are Athearn BB and are in kit form. The green tractors are lettered "Time-DC" and the yellow tractors are lettered for "Hertz".

Athearn BB Trailer Kits

Here is the basic Athearn BB Piggy-Back Trailer kit that includes a refrigeration unit. The kits are simple and easy to put together with standard hobby tools.

The DC trailers are Denver-Chicago Trucking. The two green tractors painted and lettered for Time-DC after Denver-Chicago merged with the Time System in 1973 will be perfect for these trailers and fit the Penn Central era. 

A builders note on these older style trailer wheels in these kits. Pressing the axles together all the way will make the trailer wheels too tight for use on the all purpose TOFC Flatcars

The newer style wheels shown below don't have this problem.

After test fitting on the new Walthers TOFC flats and the Athearn BB flats in my fleet most of the older style trailer axles were cemented in place as seen below. 

The trailers will now fit both the Walthers, Athearn and McKean TOFC Flats.

Athearn Tractor Kits

The Athearn BB kit is based on the cab over White Freightliner Highway Tractors introduced in 1953. 

 

Here's a photo of the Hertz BB tractor kits.

The four tractors are built and make for good flatcar loads. Note the tractors come in both six wheel and ten wheel versions. I glued  some gray construction paper inside the rear of the cabs to eliminate the see thru look.

A Hertz six wheel tractor delivers a Sea-Land Trailer to Ralph's Grocery Warehouse.

A Time-DC tractor pulls a DC trailer from the Terminal Yard TOFC track. Note that a driver has been placed in the cab.

On the layout the BUD of California trailer looks good delivering fresh produce from California to Empire Produce.

TOFC 89' Flatcars

A pair of Walthers 89' flatcars were part of the great train store haul of June 3rd, 2022. I took a chance that these cars would be able to negotiate the 24" radius curves on the layout.

Proto Information from Walthers

The introduction of the 89' flat car in 1960 opened the door for a new generation of piggyback service. Equipped with a pair of collapsible hitches these new cars could easily handle the older 35' and/or the newer 40' trailers then entering service.

The universal hitches eliminated the time consuming need for complex tie downs. New trailer handling equipment streamlined the loading process. 

The 1980s marked another turning point in TOFC technology as 45' trailers became the standard. But many railroads and TTX found themselves with fleets on 89' flats that could only carry one of these larger trailers. By 1982 Trailer Train, Santa Fe and Southern Pacific began a modernization program, developing the "Twin 45" flat car.

By moving the hitches and allowing for a slight overhang a pair of 45' trailers could be carried.

Below is an ATSF 89' TOFC Flatcar (Flush Deck) - Twin 45 version.

Two 45' ATSF trailers on the "Twin 45".

Walthers New Orleans Public Belt 89' TOFC flat car (flush deck).

The NOPB TOFC flat car is carrying a C&NW 45' trailer and an EBRR 40'er. This car comes with additional hitches and diagrams to convert it to carry two 45'ers and single 53' and 48' trailers. 

McKean Models 50' TOFC Conversion Flatcars

 

Prototype Information from McKean Models

Three major factors, the large increase in TOFC/COFC business, the increasing length of trailers of up to 48' making it difficult to work with railroad cars long enough to take two trailers of this length and the decrease in boxcar loadings have caused some railroads to to convert some of their excess boxcar fleet into 50' TOFC Flatcars.

The original prototype for these models was converted from a 50' boxcar for the Southern Railway by Ortner Freight Car of Cincinnati in response to a need for a car that could handle a trailer 48' long. 

There was an additional benefit to this program, new life for old boxcars.

Photo by Gary Lee Todd PH.D. Courtesy of Creative Commons

Building the McKean Models 50'TOFC Conversion Flats

The McKean TOFC Flatcars presented several building challenges that made the process go slowly. What I envisioned as Athearn type shake the box kits was not the case. The tooling left a lot to be desired with the parts needing a copious amount of drilling, filing trimming and CA.

Here are the two CP Rail flats with weights painted and secured with clear silicon. The ill fitting frame is secured to the car body with CA and clamped in place so the car will ride level.

Finished UP TOFC Conversion Flats with UP trailers are ready for service.

A close up of UP TOFC Flatcar #13861 and UP Trailer #UPZ 20579. The UP flats have a build date of 11/1974.

The CP Rail TOFC Flats are built and ready for service.

A close up of CP Rail TOFC Flat #505971 and BUD of California Trailer #BUDZ 503058

The CN TOFC Flats are built and ready for service.

A close up of CN TOFC Flatcar #686130 and Sea Land Trailer #40136. This TOFC flat has a rebuild date of 4-79.

All of the McKean TOFC flat cars received metal wheelsets from either Intermountain or Walthers. The McKean wheelsets were terrible and I'm not sure they were even round. #5 or #22 Kadee couplers were added as coupler heights dictated.

 

Newly purchased Conrail MP15DC gets the call to deliver TOFC traffic between Terminal Yard and the REA Ramp in Empire City.

New TOFC cars on the move!

Here are the six new cars on the Terminal Yard TOFC Track ready for their next movements.

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

See you soon!!