No. 438 Canadian Rail THE MAGAZINE OF CANADA'S RAIL WA Y HISTORY JANUARY-FEBRUARY1994 -------' PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY BY THE CANADIAN RAILROAD HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION PUBLIE TOUS LES DEUX MO IS PAR L ' ASSOC I ATION CANADIENNE D ' HISTOlRE FERROVIAlRE CANADIAN RAIL PUBLISHED BI·MONTHl'f BY THE CANADIAN RAILROAD HISTORICAL ASSOCI ATION TABLE OF CONTENTS THE TRAIN MASTERS ..................................... ........... .......................... ... HUGUES W. BONIN............. ... 3 RAIL TESTING ON THE ALGOMA CENTRAL ......................................... MARK G. GUSTAFSON........... 17 THE ALGOMA CENTRAL RAILWAy .................. .. ................................... EDWARD P. WILKOMEN........ 28 ACCOUNTS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ALGOMA CENTRAL ... R.S. McCORMICK ET AL........ 33 THE BUSINESS CAR ................................................................ .............................................................. .. 38 PROI'ff COVER: II iJ about 110011 on Friday. Octobtr 21. 1993. cmtl an ~ur/y s_jull IklS ml1d~ Ihis purl EDITOR: Fred F. Angus af Alilonra Cell/ral's main lin.-look likt a 1c~n.. from (J CIJrislltl<lS card. Sperry Rail Sen oia Hy.Railtr8()5 am/1m ;teN Ilr-Raill" ",,'air in tltl' siding at Hubul, 96.1 mile! IlOrlli ofSa ul I Sir. Marie. At 1591 jUllllxwr C(}.EDITOR: Douglas NW, Smith st'u 1t' , ~ 1 (100 / JUI abo"t' rhe SOO} lhis the /right'S1 ".,Int 011 /he Ae R. As tht Spur)' crt'''' wails. plISStn!;,,' ASSOCIATE EDITOR (Motive Power) : lrai" No. I IHlSJt'.( (JIllnt' main lint. II{)I'fhoo..nd /0 Ht'Qru. (Ilia thisj1utinJI lnonu'/Il ;$ captUrI'd Clift/III. Hugues W. Bonin PIWlQ by Mark Glil W/l'Oll. DISTRIBUTION: Gerard Frechette LAYOUT: Fred F. Angus For your membership in the CR HA, which The CRHA has a number 01 !ocal dMsions Printing: Procel Printing includes a subscription to Canadian Rail, across the country. Many hold regular meetings and issue newsletters. 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B.C. VIC 41-/9 Phone: (403)-286-2189 (23 Km.) from downtown Montreal. It is open NELSON ELECTRIC Tl'IAMWAY SOCIETY CENTRAL from lale May 10 early October (daily until 123Y_Slr_ ~BC. V1L2'18 Christopher Kyle Labour Day). Members, and their immediate 49 - 77 Wellesley SI. East PRINCE GEOAGE-NECHN<O-f'AASER OMSION families, are admitted free of charge. PO. 8o>;~ TorontO, ON M4Y tH7 Pmo. Geoove. 8.C. V2N 2Se Phone: (416)-962· 1880 PACIFIC COAST DIVISION MARITIME THE GOAL OF THE ASSOCIATION IS THE P O.80x 100II. StatIon ' A' V ~, B.C. we 21'1 Richard E. Viberg COLLECTION, PRESERVATION AND DiS­ ESOU1MAl. T AND NANAIMO DIVISION 172 Main SI. SEMINATION OF ITEMS RElATING TO I I 013 BIIII!uaI AoId Hillsborough, NB EOA 1XO THE HISTORY OF CANADIAN RAilWAYS VlclorIa. B.C vaT 181 Phone: (506)-734-3467 JANUARY - FEBRUARY 1994 3 CAI\lADIAI\l RAIL - 438 The Train Masters By Hugues W. Bonin RESUME other models of cab and hood locomotives until 1963. In Canada, Produite par Fairbanks-Morse etpar la Canadian Locomotive the Canadian Locomotive Company, in Kingston, Ontario, produced Company entre 1953 et 1957, la locomotive H24-66 "Train FM-designed diesels under license, for the Canadian market. All Master" etait, avec 2400 cv., la plus puissante diesel de son temps these locomotives were powered by an opposed piston engine et bien en avance technologiquement. Dans cet article, on exarnine based on a 8 x lO-inch cylinder: 6-cylinder 1000-1200 hp, 8- les raisons de son developpement, ses points forts et ses faiblesses, cy linder 1500-1600 hp, 1O-cy linder 2000 hp and 12-cy linder 2400 et l' on effectue un bref historique des carrieres vecues par les 127 hp engines. locomotives de ce modele qui ont ete construites et dont un seul exemplaire, la Canadien Pacifique 8905, a ete preserve et fait THE "TRAIN MASTER" l' orgueil du Musee Ferroviaire Canadien de l' Association Canadienne The design of the 2400 hp "Train Master" began in 1951 d 'Histoire Ferroviaire. in order to cope with a changing diesel locomotive market. The locomotive was officially the H24-66 model, the "H" to indicate ABSTRACT a hood unit, the 24 indicating 24 hundred horsepower, the first 6 Built by Fairbanks-Morse and the Canadian Locomotive numeral for a 6-axle unit, and the second 6 standing for the number Company between 1953 and 1957, the H24-66 "Train Master" was of powered axles. Immediately following the end of the hostilities, the most powerful diesel locomotive of its time and well ahead the railroads went on phasing out steam power as rapidly as technologically of its competitors. In this article, the reasons possible, buying about everything offered by the manufacturers, behind its development, and its strong and weak points are provided it was diesel-powered. By 1951, market saturation was examined, and a brief historical survey of the careers of the 127 already in sight, with most railways having already assembled units of this model that were built is presented, of which only one large fleets of disparate diesel locomotives from the main builders locomotive was ever preserved and proudly displayed at the of the time: Alco, EMD, Baldwin, Fairbanks-Morse and Lima­ Canadian Railroad Historical Association's Canadian Railway Hamilton. Now competition was beginning in earnest, and each Museum. company became conscious that success was now dependent on the offering of innovative, yet dependable products. FAIRBANKS·MORSE RAILWAY ACTIVITIES At Beloit, the engineers of PM felt that the 2400 hp 12- In the 1930's, the Fairbanks-Morse Company achieved cylinder opposed piston engine was the natural evolution, and they notoriety with the development of the opposed piston diesel first applied it in the "Consolidation Line" cab locomotive, the engine. In this unusual design, each cylinder houses two opposed CPA24-5, of which only 22 units were produced and sold to the pistons, and compression is achieved when the piston heads Long Island RR, the New York Central and the New Haven. These approach each other. At the moment of maximum compression, locomotives had first a multitude of trouble: piston, radiator fans, the diesel fuel-air mixture ignites and the pressure resulting from traction motors blowers and main generators, among others. the combustion of the fuel repels the pistons from each other with However, by the time the H24-66 was introduced, most, but not all, great force. This force is transmitted from the pistons to two of these problems had been solved. crankshafts, one above the engine and the other below. In railway The first "Train Master" was outshopped in April 1953 and locomotive applications, these crankshafts are linked mechanically introduced the modular component concept to the road switcher to the electrical generator which, as in all diesel electric locomotives, (the concept was first introduced with the C-Liners). The design provides the electrical power to the traction motors. The Fairbanks­ was well advanced for its time. It effectively started, albeit Morse opposed piston engine is essentially two diesel engines belatedly, the horsepower race among the locomotive builders, affixed to each other head-to-head, in such as way that a 6-cylinder which reached 3600 hp in a first step in the late 60's (with the engine has 12 pistons, and a 12-cylinder engine has 24 pistons. SD45, the U36B, the U36C, the C636 and the M636 as production The first involvement of Fairbanks-Morse with the railway models), and, more recently 4200 hp with some GE Dash8-40's. locomotive industry was in the repowering of gas-electrics with Unfortunately for Fairbanks-Morse, only 127 "Train Masters" small cylinder diesel engines. These early experiments turned out were built. Several reasons may be invoked to explain this modest rather unsuccessful. The Company's interests then concentrated in success. At that time, the railways did not recognize the merits of marine applications, and acquired fame in providing engines for high horsepower locomotives, as their engineers were still satisfied submarines.