Hi Fellow Friscophiles: Quick FM question: By the mid-sixties, were all the H10-44's assigned to Tulsa? Were any in use in KC during that time period? Any input appreciated! Andre Ming
Andre - Yes. A year or so after their 1948 purchase (the H10-44's), the SLSF realized the special maintenance skills needed for the FM opposed piston engine. This was a very good engine, well proven (submarines and light naval vessels among others), but it was, uh, very different. The Frisco decided to base them all around one base (Tulsa) and to assemble the maintenance skills for the o-p engine there. They gave good service - evidenced by the fact that the Frisco went back to FM for more - the H12-44's, in 1951. I beleive all the FM's spent all, or most all, of their time in and around Tulsa until they were disposed of in 1973. I still think they sounded like big Singer sewing machines! The new Walthers H10-44 model (HO) is very nice, in particular in black/yellow. Ken
Thanks Ken. I suspected as much. Being an S scaler, there is an H10-44 being produced in S scale that looks tempting. Of course, given my West Bottoms KC lines theme, I guess I can can still justify an FM on the layout IF I end up with the "gotta' have it" fever. Off hand, of the KC roads, I know the ATSF and Milw had them. PLUS, I know that the ATSF used some of theirs in KC... saw'em as a kid (in Zebra) in the late 50's-mid-sixties! Anyhoo... thanks for the response. Andre
If you look at the illustrations, the reasons for special maintenance and repair needs is obvious. The Opposed Piston design is unique to say the least. The illustration is genuine Fairbanks Morse with intakes above (yellow) and exhausts below (pink). The opposed piston arrangement is inherently in balance and results in an engine that has no first, second, third or fourth order vibration (or any other for that matter) characteristics (they run smoother than a sewing machine) thus making them especially well suited for powering submarines. The link below is to an animation of a DKW (German) design but fundamentally identical to the FM design just laid on its side, complete with supercharger. On the animated version, the intake ports are at the right and exhausts to the left in the cylinder walls. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Opposite_piston_engine_anim.gif
Andre - I don't know what your era timing is, but the Frisco FM's were not immediately assigned to Tulsa when they arrived to my knowledge. So, if perchance, you are modeling 1948-49, if would not be a stretch to have a Frisco FM or two operating in the KC area. Keith - Neat FM pic, thanks. Sure shows the op concept. Since there are two crankshafts and a gear tower involved, one can start to understand the maintenance problems. I guess in order to do anything major to the engine, you had to take the top crankcase off. FYI, the three German Kriegsmarine "Pocket Battleships" (they called them Panzerschiffe) in WW2 (Deutschland/Lutzow, Admiral Scheer, Admiral Graf Spee) were diesel powered with eight MAN vertical nine-cylinder op engines driving two screws, four to a shaft. Quite revolutionary for the time (mid-1930's). That might be where FM got the idea. German naval history (and USN history) is yet another one of my hobbies. There are several frisco.org type groups for that too! Ken
