A question came up in the Atlas forum about FT's and some of them having the full Lightning stripe paint on them . I have checked all my books and George Elwood's site and have not seen any . Does anyone know if they did ? Also if I may the FT A+B unit were they connected by couplers are some sort of drawbar? None of my drawings are detailed enough to see . Thanks in advance . Randy
Randy, being the grumpy old steam dude, I don't know the answers to those questions. I'm sure Ron or Tom will come along with the real facts. There is another reason I can't answer the NYC diesel questions. I left NY state in 1961 and haven't lived there since. Lost my railfan interest about 1957-1991, so am rediscovering these things.
Randy Yes to both questions. The FT's lasted until 1961-64 and did have the full stripes,they were connected with drawbars rather than couplers until the end. I have to go play with trains now but I'll check photo locations for you later. ( I work in a toy train shop, well someone has to do it.) Later Ron Morse
Ron, do you or anyone else know the spacing between F Units with drawbars. I know the spacing was less than with couplers, but don't know by how much. Thanks, Hank COO, Saucier & Southern Railway (N) Wholly-owned subsidiary of the B&M Maroon-n-Gold B&M F's were AWESOME
Can't help on the spacing as the diagram I have dosen't show the distance between the units. However the overall wheel base is 79'9" for the two units,coupled. The photos I have come up with in the full stripe configuration are on page 92 of the book "New York Central System..Gone but Not Forgotten" by H.F. Cavanaugh (hard to find) and the book "The Revolutionary Diesel, EMC's FT" by Diesel Era that has six (6) pictures in the stripes,starting on page 80. This was printed in 1994 so you might be able to find one of these around. I'm sure there are others but I have't had time to look for them. Hope this helps, Ron
I believe that a few of Dave Sweetland's books show FT's at the end of their service lives on transfer runs in the Cleveland area. I have not located the exact photos, but seem to remember that they did have lightning stripes. I believe that FT's on some railroads had the drawbar removed and a coupler applied. I also remember seeing the famous EMD FT #103 as a four unit consist. Upon close inspection you will notice that the trucks on the "B" unit of each pair are not the same distance from each end of the locomotive. There was some equipment on the "B" that was not on the "A", perhaps batteries or a steam generator (for those used in passenger service). You should refer to a Loco Cyc or Xtra2200 South or a Diesel Spotters Guide for the exact differences, including differences in FT's on some railroads and not on others... I do not have my NYC Diagram Book handy, and will comment further. Hope this limited response is helpful to you.
Thanks, I believe that B&M, like the Central, removed all drawbars from their F's early on (if they ever had them) to get more flexibility. I just received two excellent books on the B&M by Robert Willoughby Jones with many good photos. Hopefully one of them will show a full side image of an A/B connection that can be measured. Hank
Thanks much for all the replies . I will forward all this info to the interested parties . I think you can never have enough Central books for reference and I will try to aquire some of your suggestions . Thanks again!
Thanks everyone, for helping answer Randy's questions. That's what makes Trainboard the friendliest board on the net. I miss the new graemlins that were here for a while.
Hank and all: The aforementioned book states that the Central FT's went to the end with the draw bars. I have never seen photos of an FT A without an FT B on the NYC.Though photos of them are not common.
