
O FM Erie Built A Unit Diesel NYC/3.0
One of railroading’s most famous diesel locomotive
manufacturers, Fairbanks, Morse and Co., actually began life as an
engine builder for the U.S. Navy thanks to its revolutionary
opposed-piston diesel power plants first developed in the early 1930s.
By 1944, the company entered the locomotive business when its first
H10-44 diesel switcher rolled out of the FM shops destined for the
Milwaukee Road railroad.
Fairbanks Morse officials knew that real success in the
locomotive business would only come if the company could produce a road
cab engine and elected to use a Raymond Loewy carbody design to make
that goal a reality. Unfortunately, FM did not have the shop capacity
to produce the engine themselves so it was contracted out to General
Electric’s nearby Erie, Pennsylvania plant. Thus, FM’s first road cab
engine was dubbed the “Erie-Built” and made its debut in 1945. A total
of 111 of the 8,000 horsepower haulers were produced with the last
retired from the Kansas City Southern in 1966.
The Erie-Built marks M.T.H.’s fourth recreation of a Fairbanks
Morse locomotive following the Trainmaster, H10-44 Switcher and the
C-Liner. Like its Premier line predecessors, the Erie-Built, last
produced in 2004, offers the O Scale model railroad enthusiast
unmatched value thanks to the awesome sounds and features of
Proto-Sound 3.0, intricate body detail, crisp decoration and incredible
pulling power.
Detailed, Durable ABS Body