The FM H-10-44 was a switcher locomotive produced by Fairbanks-Morse from August, 1944–March, 1950. The units featured a , six-cylinder opposed piston prime mover, and were configured in a B-B wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of two-axle AAR Type A trucks, with all axles powered. Many H-10-44s received modifications that increased their horsepower rating to .
The Raymond Loewy-designed carbody featured a slanted nose, sloping hood lines, and (considered to be its most distinguishing feature) a protruding roof visor mounted on the rear of the cab. These styling cues were carried through to the H-10-44's successor, the FM H-12-44, until September 1952 when the exterior design was "Spartanized" to reduce production costs.
A total of 195 units were built for American railroads. Four intact examples of the H-10-44 are known to survive today, all of which are owned by railroad museums. Most notable of these is Milwaukee Road #760 (originally delivered as #1802), the first Fairbanks–Morse locomotive constructed in their own plant, which is preserved and operational at the Illinois Railway Museum. The Milwaukee Road #767 (delivered as #1809) is preserved at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and was operational until 2007 when it suffered a failed bearing. Another example is former Hallet Dock Company HD-11, which is now at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth, Minnesota.
In 1954, Milwaukee Road H-10-44 #1811 (Now 781) and Milwaukee Road “ribside” caboose #01900 wrecked between Monticello and New Glarus, Wisconsin. A wooden rail bridge had been previously burned in a grass fire, and both the locomotive and caboose struck the bridge. Both are now restored and on display at the Brodhead Historical Society in Brodhead, Wisconsin.
A reproduction H-10-44 locomotive sits atop the Wood Family Fishing Bridge, a former railroad bridge which crosses the Rock River several hundred yards south of the foundry where the H-10-44s were built, in Beloit, Wisconsin.
Units produced Image Railroad Quantity Road numbers Notes Apache Railway Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Renumbered 9700–9709 Chehalis Western Railroad (Weyerhaeuser) Chicago and North Western Railway Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway (“Monon”) Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road’) Renumbered 760–776, 778–783;760 (ex-1802), 767 (ex-1809) and 781 (ex-1823) are preserved in museums Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (“Omaha Road”) Columbia and Cowlitz Railway to Pacific Great Eastern Railway Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad 122 to Frisco 286 Fairbanks-Morse (demonstrator unit) to Milwaukee Road 1819; renumbered 777 Indianapolis Union Railway Kentucky and Indiana Terminal Railroad Minnesota Western Railway to Minneapolis, Northfield and Southern Railway 11, to Hallet Dock Company HD-11 New York Central Railroad to Penn Central 8204–8210 New York Central (Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad) New York, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (“Nickel Plate Road”) to Norfolk and Western Railway 2125–2133 Pennsylvania Railroad to Penn Central 8211-8265 Pittsburgh, Chartiers and Youghiogheny Railway St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Union Pacific Railroad Wabash Railroad to Norfolk and Western 3380–3383 Weyerhaeuser Timber Company Total 195
References
External links
Fairbanks-Morse H10-44 Roster Preserved Fairbanks Morse Yard Power