| Posted by on September 28, 2018 | |
WOW!....I had NO idea any of these LOCO's even existed anymore. Back around 1974 Amtrak had contracted with the Milwaukee Road to have some of the FL9's rebuilt in West Milwaukee Shops....these could be some of those locomotives. Great pic and good info....Thanks...Tom.
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| Posted by xBNSFer on September 28, 2018 | |
I have some old slides of those Amtrak FL9s - your shops did a beautiful job on them!
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In this photo, you can see how the back door bellows were eliminated during the rebuild.
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I don't think I've ever seen an FL-9 before. They look like the result of when an E unit and an F unit have a baby.
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| Posted by Tom on September 29, 2018 | |
I don't know much, if anything, about railroading, but glad to see these preserved. Nice paint scheme.
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I had three of these in "N" scale PC. Only engine having 4-6 wheel arrangement. I suppose four axles were powered but for weight distribution the back truck had three axles. I don't remember from my train books on how they were powered. The "N" scale had rubber tires attached. That I didn't like and you couldn't remove them because of the groove on the tread.
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They were designed to travel the electrified light rail into Grand Central Terminal in New York I believe. The L in the FL-9 stood for light weight. Yes the arrangement was a B-A1A the triple rear axle used to support and spread the extra weight of the steam generator. Fairbanks Morse also made a similar arrangement on their C-liners designated CPA20-5, and CPA24-5. Canadian Locomotive Corporation the Canadian licensee to build FM's in Canada also made CPA16-5, and CPB16-5 cab less boosters. The third axle was there to support the weight of the steam generators. I have been told the A1A arrangement made for a rough ride since the center axle didn't have a traction motor it bounced a lot. It is still amazing to seem them in Hew Haven McGuiness paint scheme, and also glad to see they will continue on. I wish the same could have been said of the C-liners
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