FM TrainMaster

Its pint sized but still my favorite FM trainmaster.
Great sounds..smokes and runs great
Joe

taycotrains, who did the Chesapeak and Ohio TrainMaster?

...keep the rails polished...

quote:

Originally posted by NCT:
taycotrains, who did the Chesapeak and Ohio TrainMaster?

...keep the rails polished...

I bought the engine about 21 years ago from Bill Barkby at B&E Junction.

The engine was part of a HUGE collection that came out of Buffalo NY that
had a lot of custom painted Lionel postwar pieces....The postwar frame is flawless with no battery damage,good horn and no alterations.

Unfortunately I have no idea who painted the shell.

My intention was to find a nice postwar FM shell and marry the two...
but that never happened...I paid 110.00 dollars for it

No such thing as too much FM Train Monster!!

Lionel Conventional Classic Trainmasters...

quote:

Originally posted by JC642:
Its pint sized but still my favorite FM trainmaster.
Great sounds..smokes and runs great
Joe

. . . except for the fact that your model is not a FM Trainmaster. It is a Fairbanks Morse H-16-44. And your model does not represent the unofficially dubbed 'baby trainmaster, which was the H16-66,a six-axel locomotive.

Someone asked for another shot of our SOUTHERN here heading up a short mixed passenger train through the scenic Appalachians

I'll play:

quote:

Originally posted by GG1 4877:
I'll play:

Jonathan: Thanks, and who made those?

Bill

I think I read somewhere (???), that Lionel chose to model the Virginian in blue, because it would sell better than black. They did the same with their Virginian Rectifier electric.

Bill,

The large one is a Williams. Solid, reliable and a great runner. A little scale challenged, but I still like it! The one in the lower photo is an Atlas N scale version. Also a solid and reliable great runner. The detail is stunning for a model this size with see through radiator grilles in the back.

I have an HO Athearn one as well, but it is on a detail level with the Williams and I'm not exactly sure where it is at at the moment

quote:

. . . except for the fact that your model is not a FM rainmaster. It is a Fairbanks Morse H-16-44

Have no idea what a "FM rainmaster" is?
All I know is my little FM is one of my favorite switchers.
Joe

Lionel Century Club 2 FM Trainmaster Demo units.

When I get settled I need to photograph them all. I started counting in the old noodle and surprised myself.

Lionel
Pennsylvannia with the oversize lettering.
Readind green version
Lackawanna new classic release
Virginian new classic release

K line
Pennsylvania

MTH
2 SP black widow

Wow, love them all. Trainmasters, how can you not?

My lionel 8056 takes the term "no bells and whistle" literally.
Under the hood, two pulmors, no sound.

ok, ok... I know the NYC didn't have them either, but they just look so good.

I have both the 2311 and 2313.

Central was closer than you think. NYCS TMs 4600-4607 were diverted to
the Espee after Young got control of the Central in 1954. They were the
standard black freight paint, as the paint diagrams still exist.

quote:

Originally posted by jaygee:
Central was closer than you think. NYCS TMs 4600-4607 were diverted to
the Espee after Young got control of the Central in 1954. They were the
standard black freight paint, as the paint diagrams still exist.

I'd love to see them... Were they to look like the -44s?



Cause that much Lightning Stripes would make me weak in the knees... That's a lot of real estate on those flanks.

Has anyone ever painted a pair like these? Or, even in the Cigar Band?

I may have to have someone...

Not exactly like the H16-44s but same colors and a similar overall look.
Never seen any photos of NYCS units painted in the flesh. It's possible
that one or two units could have gotten the full paint before the rug got
pulled.

Along the line of almost purchasers:

The Illinois Central was going to buy 75 Train Masters, but cancelled due to a proxy fight going on at FM.

Would have been something to see those big, black boxes storming through Southern Illinois on with a coal train.

Rusty

quote:

The Illinois Central was going to buy 75 Train Masters, but cancelled due to a proxy fight going on at FM.

One of the great "what if's". The IC's Paduca Shops could keep ANYTHING running. F.M. could have remained a player (at least for a little while longer.) And we would probably have a few Trainmasters still around today.

Have a lionel pwc nj central with tmcc,has anyone ever attempted to add a smoke unit to one .
thanks rich

Exactly WHY were the NYC TM's cancelled? At least SP say the (day)light!

quote:

Originally posted by DominicMazoch:
Exactly WHY were the NYC TM's cancelled? At least SP say the (day)light!

Well, I checked in my FM books and can't find a specific reason, other than there were problems with crankcase explosions and piston failures in the Erie Builts, which the Cental had. This also turned off the UP and the Santa Fe.

When the Cental cancelled the order, they were in the process of replacing the FM OP prime movers their C-Liners with EMD prime movers.

The cost to purchase a TM was higher by about $100,000 verses a GP-9 and the higher maintainance costs of th OP prime mover could also be factored in.

Rusty

PRR TM with little friend.

My very first train set was the Lionel 2343 F3 Santa Fe streamline passenger set. My very first individual locomotive was the 2321 Lackawanna TrainMaster w/maroon roof. I still have that gem in like-new condition. It sits proudly in a display case here in my den, but runs as well today as it did back in the 50s when it was new (perhaps even better since it was once serviced by the late Jim Sattler, one of the nation's major Lionel collectors). No screw hole cracks either!

Cheryl

The below group can also be of assistance........

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/...ains/?yguid=24679421

quote:

Originally posted by ittraction:

quote:

The Illinois Central was going to buy 75 Train Masters, but cancelled due to a proxy fight going on at FM.

One of the great "what if's". The IC's Paduca Shops could keep ANYTHING running. F.M. could have remained a player (at least for a little while longer.) And we would probably have a few Trainmasters still around today.

CNJ and the SP knew how to maintain their Trainmasters and that is why they were the last two railroads to keep them operating. CNJ's ran as late '72 IIRC. Those opposed piston submarine prime movers simply couldn't be maintained the same way you would maintain an EMD, ALCO, GE or Baldwin equivalent.

quote:

Originally posted by GG1 4877:

CNJ and the SP knew how to maintain their Trainmasters and that is why they were the last two railroads to keep them operating. CNJ's ran as late '72 IIRC. Those opposed piston submarine prime movers simply couldn't be maintained the same way you would maintain an EMD, ALCO, GE or Baldwin equivalent.

SP found that the FM Trainmaster was best suited for pulling local commuter trains so they ended up keeping them in the Bay Area for most of their service life, shuttling passengers between San Francisco and San Jose. The reason they were ideal in this environment was a combination of their high horsepower and could ramp up speed for a train fairly quickly which was important to maintain schedules. They slowly started retiring them during the late 1960's-early 1970s and didn't officially retire the remaining fleet until early 1975; as the SDP-45s were gradually replacing them. What's interesting to note is that SP ended up doing some fairly extensive modifications to the SDP-45s they owned in order to match the Trainmaster's quick performance. Unfortunately of course none of SP's Trainmasters were preserved.

The Bay Area ended up being the place to find the "odd ducks" of locomotives (including the Trainmaster) since they found what engines best served specific geographical areas, plus they preferred not to spread out engines that required more specialized training and maintenance to perform all over their system.

I am going to see of MTH imports a 2-rail Virginian Train Master model. The prototype locomotives were painted BLACK and yellow and that will be the only paint scheme that I would accept for purchase. Also, the Virginian train masters were run LONG HOOD FORWARD and the MTH must be set up that way.

quote:

I am going to see of MTH imports a 2-rail Virginian Train Master model. The prototype locomotives were painted BLACK and yellow and that will be the only paint scheme that I would accept for purchase. Also, the Virginian train masters were run LONG HOOD FORWARD and the MTH must be set up that way.

Bachmann/Williams offers a yellow and black Virginian Trainmaster. It even runs in either direction. I had no idea the MTH model did not.

Pete

quote:

Originally posted by Texas Pete:

quote:

I am going to see of MTH imports a 2-rail Virginian Train Master model. The prototype locomotives were painted BLACK and yellow and that will be the only paint scheme that I would accept for purchase. Also, the Virginian train masters were run LONG HOOD FORWARD and the MTH must be set up that way.

Bachmann/Williams offers a yellow and black Virginian Trainmaster. It even runs in either direction. I had no idea the MTH model did not.

Pete

Yes they do offer a model and I used to own a couple. I'm looking for a more accurate model at this point.

quote:

Bachmann/Williams offers a yellow and black Virginian Trainmaster. It even runs in either direction. I had no idea the MTH model did not.

Good grief! You mean when I order the MTH FM Trainmasters in SP Black Widow and/or FM Demonstrator styling,,,,,,,,THEY WILL NOT RUN IN REVERSE?

quote:

Originally posted by GG1 4877:

quote:

Originally posted by ittraction:

quote:

The Illinois Central was going to buy 75 Train Masters, but cancelled due to a proxy fight going on at FM.

One of the great "what if's". The IC's Paduca Shops could keep ANYTHING running. F.M. could have remained a player (at least for a little while longer.) And we would probably have a few Trainmasters still around today.

CNJ and the SP knew how to maintain their Trainmasters and that is why they were the last two railroads to keep them operating. CNJ's ran as late '72 IIRC. Those opposed piston submarine prime movers simply couldn't be maintained the same way you would maintain an EMD, ALCO, GE or Baldwin equivalent.

N&W ran them into '73 - they even repainted a pair into the latest N&W paint scheme for a fan trip.

The last run of an N&W Train Master, the 173, took place on July 4, 1976 when it operated in tandem with SD45 1776 on an NRHS Roanoke Chapter excursion.

Bob

One of the all time greats of Dieseldom. More expensive to maintain and
work on than an EMD of the same era, but then you got more work out of
them for your jing. They also did not like to be MUed with other makes
or even other models of FM power. These were true dual service machines,
at home with freight or passenger assignments. PRR considered going for
another fifty or so after their initial purchase of nine in 1956. They
also wanted a licencing arrangement for FM/ TM specific parts, as a
form of protection against the probability of FM's collapse in light of
Penn Texas, and all the internal sqabbling. PRR had been burned with the
Baldwin debacle in the same time frame. FM supposedly was OK with this at
the first and then new management scotched the deal. PRR blew off FM
forever, and went EMD and Alco in the end.

Does anyone make a "BEEP" version for small layouts?

I understand only one FM "Trainmaster" model H24-66 (2,400 hp / 6 wheels per truck) survives: it's in a large RR museum in Delson, Quebec & is former CP unit #8905. It was shown in two color photos in the 9/96 issue of "Railpace" magazine. When I saw it, it was parked inside a huge shed with poor lighting; the shots I tried to take were dark & murky. DK

quote:

Originally posted by NCT:
What the heck!! Lets see some pictures of your TrainMasters.

...keep the rails polished...