Diesels on Prince Edward Island, Part 3 (original) (raw)

This time I'll write about the Fairbanks-Morse diesels.

Fairbanks-Morse was a manufacturing company, started in 1823 with Thaddeus Fairbanks. In the 1890s it started building engines, and it started building railway locomotives in the late 1930s. F-M built locomotives until 1963, and the Canadian licensee the Canadian Locomotive Company continued until 1969.

Three Fairbanks-Morse H12-64 diesels arrived on PEI in 1951, numbered 1615, 1616 and 1617. At some point only two remained on PEI, one for each "main line train" in each direction.

Some sightings I found in various places:
1962/1/26: 1639
1962/6/23: 1616
1962/8/7: 1636, 1639

The H12-64 units were retired between 1957 and 1968. On PEI, they were replaced by the MLW RSC-13 units in 1967.

Side note: RDC D302 was tested on PEI in March 1958 but "it proved unsuitable because of difficulties it encountered crossing the ferry ramp, and negotiating the sharp turns between Borden and Charlottetown".
EDIT: It is unlikely the RDC ever made it to PEI. I understand it was tested at Cape Tormentine in New Brunswick but had issues with ferry loading.

EDIT 2: RDC D302 was indeed tested on PEI in early March 1958 but the tests were not successful.

Next: the RSC-13 units.

NOTE: The information in this blog post series has been collected and expanded upon to make an eBook:
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