Locomotive Spotlight #3-2025 / New Haven C-Liner #791

 Greetings All,

Locomotive Spotlight #3-2025

New Haven C-Liner #791

A recent purchase of a New Haven C-Liner shell that I believe is a True Line Trains product that rode on a Life-Like Proto 1000 power chassis led me down the rabbit hole of this rare locomotive. Lets take a look at the prototype and the model.

Prototype Info

In 1950 the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad known as the New Haven purchased two Fairbanks Morse CPA24-5 demonstrator locomotives (4801-4802) that would become New Haven C-Liners 790 and 791. The 790 and 791 were delivered in the NH green and gold paint scheme of that era. 

The FM CPA24-5 stood for Consolidation Line - Passenger - A Unit - 2,400 Horsepower - five axles. The trucks were configured with a BB front truck and an A-1-A rear truck to support the weight of the boiler equipment and water used to heat the passenger cars it would haul.

Limited Sales of the CPA24-5

Ten of the somewhat unusual wheel arrangement cab unit locomotives were purchased from Fairbanks-Morse by the New Haven RR (790-799), the New York Central purchased eight (4500-4507) and the Long Island Railroad purchased four (2401-2404). 

The New Haven would come back to this wheel arrangement in 1956 with the order of the EMD FL9s. The first 30 FL9s would bump the C-Liners to lesser roles and ultimately an early retirement.

"NYC & NH EMD FL9s-1" by DanTD is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=openverse.

Back To The C-Liners!!!

The Consolidation Line was a series of diesel-electric locomotives produced by Fairbanks-Morse and its Canadian licensee, the Canadian Locomotive Company. Railfans have dubbed these locomotives C-liners, however F-M referred to the models collectively as the C-Line. A combined total of 165 units (123 cab-equipped lead A units and 42 cab less booster B units) were produced by F-M and the CLC between 1950 and 1955. 

Orders for the C-liners were initially received from the New York Central, followed by the Long Island Rail Road, the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Milwaukee Road and the New Haven. 

The Milwaukee Road purchased twelve FM CPA16-4 locomotives (23A,C - 28A, C) that were rated at 1,600 HP and rode on a more traditional B-B wheel arrangement.

"Some of the Rarer MILW Diesels -- 4 of Roger Puta's Photos" by railfan 44 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/?ref=openverse.

The MILW A units were supplemented by six CFB14-4 B units (23B - 28B)

"Some of the Rarer MILW Diesels -- 4 of Roger Puta's Photos" by railfan 44 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/?ref=openverse.

The Model

A May 2025 purchase of three locomotive shells for six dollars including shipping provided a Conrail FA shell, an undecorated Athearn S-12 shell and the True Line Trains New Haven 791 shell.

The 791 shell fit perfectly onto a spare Proto 1000 power chassis.

The New Haven 791 was former FM Demonstrator 4802. The 791 is a CPA24-5 and should have an A-1-A rear truck however the power chassis came from a CFA20-4 model that has a B-B truck arrangement.

As per New Haven practice starting with the Alco DL109s in World War II their diesel locomotives were dual mode to handle both passenger and freight assignments.

C-Liner 791 brings a passenger train with plenty of headend traffic to East Bedford Station.

The 791 eases the train to a stop at East Bedford Station.

A nice surprise was learning that the New Haven FM C-Liners were capable of multi unit operation with the NH PAs and could be found in both freight and passenger service as indicated in photos from The New Haven Railroad The Final Decades book.

The PA1 and C-Liner bring a New Haven freight train from Cedar Hill Yard towards Terminal Yard via the lower level of the layout.

On another day the C-Liner is in the lead climbing up the slide towards Terminal Yard. The C-Liner and PA provide plenty of power for long passenger and freight trains to get up the grades to Terminal Yard.

Checkout the 791 in revenue service!!

Final Thoughts and Comments

The New Haven CPA24-5s were destined to become the shortest lived NH diesels with all being retired by 1961. The C-Liners would run twice as many revenue miles as their Alco counterparts before needing an overhaul but the rebuilding of the FM units was very time consuming and expensive.

The four axle 791 is basically a stand in for the prototypical five axle CPA24-5. I didn't find any HO scale CPA24-5 locomotives or parts on ebay so I may have to be content with the discrepancy if I am to run the 791 with B-B trucks. 

That said the Proto 1000 power chassis is extremely smooth running, very heavy, has tremendous pulling power and is very capable of handling a heavy train up the grades to Terminal Yard. When coupled to the P-2000 PA this duo can handle a tremendous amount of tonnage.

Additional Reading and Links

New Haven Railroad The Final Decades by Scott Hartley

FM C-Liner Rosters