Fairbanks Morse H16-66 (CPR #7009)

Here’s an old post from years back, pulled from the remains of a badly crashed archive, fixed up, edited and made new again. The photos show a Fairbanks Morse model H16-66 locomotive and it’s a rare beast indeed. Today it’s one of two left. It’s first seen in High River Alberta at some point in the 1990s and again out in Nelson British Columbia in 2016.

Referred to as a “Baby Trainmaster (alt: Train Master)” by railway buffs, but never officially by the company that made them, this brawny engine appears as Canadian Pacific Railway #7009 and is one of only two examples of this model extant. Only a small number were produced for a select number of customers in the first place and the two survivors were similarly the final examples made. They were also the last ones to remain in service.

Interestingly, the Canadian Pacific/CP Rail never owned this locomotive, nor did they purchase any of this model from the builder. Neither did any other Canadian railway and H16-66s were only sold in the US. The CPR did however own numerous similar looking Fairbanks Morse designed H16-44 and H24-66 models, built in Canada by the Canadian Locomotive Company of Kingston Ontario. That firm held the rights for FM locomotives in this country and also made all manner of heavy industrial equipment until closing in the late ’60s.

All H series locomotives have the same large burly look about them and while they proved less reliable when compared to the offerings of other builders, they made up for it by their raw pulling power. According to old timers we’ve spoken with, who knew them, they could really dig in and lug.

The unit is numbered in the 7000 to 7010 block reserved by the railway for demonstrator locomotives. The current owner wanted it painted to make it appear as though testing out for the CPR and that’s a plausible enough story. The railway did this often enough and other locomotives that have also appeared in the same numbering series include two FM/CLC CPA16-4s. These date from 1951 and were the very first Fairbanks Morse designed locomotives turned out by the Canadian Locomotive Company.

This locomotive was outshopped in early 1958 as Fairbanks Morse locomotive production waned. They stayed in the business into the early 1960s, but by this point had a limited output. It worked under various owners in the coal fields of Illinois.

At some point in the early 1980s a private individual from Ottawa Ontario purchased it and moved up here to Canada where it bounced around for a while. When seen by us it was stored in High River, in company with some other vintage railway cars and awaiting a permanent home.

Its location put it right next to a railway themed, dining car restaurant (still in business) and within a stone’s throw of the old CPR High River train station. That building somehow survived when so many other didn’t and now home to the High River Museum. We’re along the CPR’s MacLeod branchline here and the track got pulled a couple decades ago now.

The H16-66 ended up a rare model but that’s not odd given its rather specialized abilities. It did best on heavy but slow moving freights, and on lightly built lines. FM went on to build one more H16-66, late in ’58 and with that closed out the model’s run. The last one, recall, is the other we spoke of that survived and presently resides at a railway museum in the southern US.

At some point after the first photos were captured this locomotive moved to the CPR’s Ogden Shops and was repainted. It now wore the CPR’s traditional Tuscan red and grey scheme and looked great. On our first visit it displayed badly faded CP Rail colours and looked a little ragged.

In late 2012 this locomotive along with a second historical FM/CLC unit were seen heading west on a CPR freight, but their destination seemed a mystery.

At least to begin with and some thought perhaps they were headed to Squamish BC. There’s a large train museum in that community that certainly could give them a little love but when checked on next, however, they turned up in Nelson BC. That’s where both have been ever since.

They were first put in storage under tarps in the remains of the Nelson yard, where they were tagged and vandalized. Shortly after our visit, they were moved in behind the Canadian Pacific’s Nelson station, a short distance away and displayed there. Still with tagging based on photos we’ve seen of them recently.

Nelson was home the CPR shops that specialized in maintaining this make of locomotive so their is a significance to them being displayed here. Southern BC and parts of southwest Alberta were stomping grounds for CLC/FM locomotives and many lasted into service into the 1970s. That’s not bad, since all were from two decades before and always worked hard.

Some guides/sites/books list this model as an H-16-66 and others H16-66. We’ll use the terms interchangeably but some train-guys might argue one point or the other.

Officially however, at the Canadian Locomotive Company at least, they used the latter form. It’s confirmed by looking at some verbatim records listed in the book “Constructed in Kingston, a history of the Canadian Locomotive Company 1854 to 1968” by Donald McQueen and William Thomson. It’s then assumed the parent company Fairbanks Morse also used the same model naming conventions. If anyone even cares.

These pictures were scanned from 35mm prints and date, as best we can tell, from the 1990s. Any records that accompanied them are lost and admittedly, it’s us being sloppy. They were poor quality to start with, faded with age and indifferently scanned long ago.

We don’t recall the camera used to capture them (probably something cheap, old and probably out of tune), nor the film used (probably a bargain house brand).

What’s in a name? H = hood unit, 16 = horsepower in hundreds and 66 = six axles with all powered. Simple enough. FM/CLC locomotives used the firm’s unique opposed piston engines, with two cylinders acting against each other, verses one piston against a cylinder head that’s typical. For the eight cylinder engine that powered #7009 (assuming it’s even still inside), there were sixteen pistons and two crankshafts.

This arrangement made FM engines quite powerful, but also complicated. They were also a very tall and this is reflected in the boxy design of the H series locomotives. The H16-44 ended up the most common of family and otherwise quite similar to a H16-66 but with four axles. CPR/CP Rail had a fair number of 16-44 models and they earned their keep.

Know more: (new tab): Fairbanks Morse H16-66 Locomotives.

They’re saying…

“Can we all take a moment to appreciate how great this website is?” Monica & Leslie.

A similar CLC H series locomotive appears in this post…
Gas Plant Collection. It’s since been scrapped.

Locomotive overload…
Locomotives of 40 Mile Rail (Amazing Skies).
Ex-Manitoba Sugar.
Canadian National Railways #1392.

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Date of adventure: 1990s and July 2016.
Location: High River Alberta and Nelson British Columbia.
Article references and thanks: Canadian Trackside Guides, John Burbridge’s local agent, and TrainWeb.org/CPRDieselRoster.

From the 1990s…

Fairbanks Morse H16-66 (CPR #7009).

Shot on film long ago in High River Alberta.

From 2016…

Waiting to be put on display in Nelson BC.