Part 1
Photo credit: FM Builders Photo from Robert David Stevens collection
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4/1/04 6am
PST
Copyright 2004 J. Sing, V. Niner, R. Gustafson - All Rights Reserved
Copyright 2004 J. Sing, V. Niner, R. Gustafson - All Rights Reserved
Prelude
Listen, if you can, to the sound of the cold winter wind, whistling across the high desert and Ponderosa pine-covered mountains of northern Arizona, USA. You're there, in Winslow, Flagstaff, Riordan, Ash Fork, Williams; and in these small Arizona towns, you can still today witness high speed modern intermodal railroading on what was once the Third District, Albuquerque Division, of the former Santa Fe's transcontinental mainline across northern Arizona.
In this part of the high desert of Arizona, knowledgeable railfans still gather, and among those who know, the talk turns quietly to whispers. It is said that here, hidden in the shadows of time, is a long held secret about the true origins of intermodal railroading on the Santa Fe's Arizona Divide. They say there was a mysterious locomotive, stuck on a crossing in Flagstaff, in the spring of 1955. They speak in hushed tones about suspicions in that year, of secret railroad and government 'black ops' in remote railroad canyons; and they quietly discuss tales of a far-off locomotive whistle in those nights long ago, from a freight train that never existed on any timetable.
Rumors reappear from time to time that seek to explain mysterious photos uncovered, attempting to justify railfan's film being confiscated by uniformed MPs.
They hint at long-ago sightings of a phantom mysterious black and silver locomotive, running like the wind in the night.
Locals say that whatever dark secret this was.............. only the railbed, the Arizona mountains, and the Ponderosa pines will ever know for sure.
According to Santa Fe, Fairbanks Morse, EMD, and the US Government, what you are about to read, never happened........
The Gambit Begins
On February 22, 1955, US President Eisenhower formally
proposed to the
US Congress, the creation of the US Interstate Highway
System.
The legendary Santa Fe President Fred Gurley realized the implications and threat of the Interstate Highway System to the traditional US railroad. He saw that a visionary leapfrog concept was necessary for survival; and thus, he secretly initiated a project to remake the entire ATSF: a new concept that he nicknamed Project "Super Fleet A", with a radical new concept he called "multi-modal".
The vision was to replace the traditional boxcar with a fleet of a completely new type of freight train: truck trailers with removable wheels on flat cars; and a new type of flat car he called "deep well" carrying a new type of trailer he called "truck container". Vast yards would be required with cranes to lift the trailers and truck containers on and off the "deep well" cars efficiently; and the concept would require running these trains at passenger train speeds across Santa Fe's transcontinental main. This fleet of trains would be called the "Super Bee".
In the race to market survival, Mr. Gurley knew that with the threat of the Interstate Highway System, his hand was forced. And victory only comes to the brave and courageous......
Enter Fairbanks Morse
Although languishing at #3 in the field of US railroad locomotive manufacturers, FM was secretly contacted by Santa Fe. Both parties knew that in this radical "multi-modal" concept, was an opportunity that FM alone could fill: a fleet of cost effective, super-high-horsepower railroad locomotives capable of the required passenger train speeds and cross country distances. In late December 1954, FM offered at no cost to the Santa Fe, a six month trial of a new prototype Trainmaster. FM even painted the prototype locomotive in the Santa Fe black/silver zebra stripe colors:
The locomotive appeared externally as a standard Trainmaster, but inside lurked an unheard-of 20 cylinder prototype Opposed Piston FM engine generating 3150 HP. Beloit, working in secrecy in a 'black' building during the graveyard shift, had created a new locomotive specifically for "Super Bee" service. She was the first Super Trainmaster.
Appropriately, the 'black project' Trainmaster was innocently numbered '3150'. A new swing bolster version of the Trainmaster's trimount truck was built to provide the stable ride needed at speeds averaging 80 MPH on the high desert.
"Super Bee" would not be viable without the Super Trainmaster's horsepower. Not only would the multi-modal Super Bee trains need to deliver 100% consistency with a 40 hour Chicago-Los Angeles schedule and need to run like the wind across the flatlands of Kansas and the Midwest; but they would need to maintain passenger train speeds across the the biggest problem on the whole transcontinental Santa Fe railroad - the Arizona Divide on the Third District of the Santa Fe's Albuquerque Division.
With the Super Trainmaster, Santa Fe would be able to defer millions of dollars in the proposed Crookton Cutoff line rebuild on the Arizona Divide. Code named the FM H31-66, if this prototype was proven successful, the intent by FM and Santa Fe was to follow with a fleet of 3600 HP turbocharged H36-66s.
Unfortunately, she was a sight that only a privileged few would ever see.........................
Secrecy cloaked the entire project. The vast scope of ATSF's secret project to remake their entire railroad business had national ramifications. If successful, Santa Fe would remake the railroad industry, impact labor and labor unions, and in fact, remake the entire way that interstate commerce, trucking, railroad, and bulk shipment transportation was done in the US. And FM was also the only builder capable delivering the required locomotive horsepower. For all these reasons, everyone involved was sworn to complete secrecy. The implications were far-reaching enough that secret US Department of Commerce management was dispatched to overlord the whole operation.
So the great game began.
It was a heady time, full of opportunity.............. and challenges.
The Initial Trials
Hence, in the wee morning and dawn hours of 1955, a great black and silver Super Trainmaster began test runs....
Racing across the vast desert and mountain regions of Santa Fe's Arizona transcontinental main.....
The base of operations was a secret 'black enginehouse' in a remote corner of Winslow Yard - far away from prying eyes in the remote reaches of the Arizona high desert. Santa Fe 3150 first saw the light of day in the late winter months of early 1955.
The normal mode of test operation was to take the engine out well after dark, run her up and down the Arizona Divide, and then return her to the Winslow 'black enginehouse' just as dawn broke.
The object was to get across Arizona not just with brute force, but with speed, and that needed much higher horsepower than anything before. Neither EMD or Alco had anything to match it (2400 HP not until 1958-9).
The tests were conducted all over the Third District of Santa Fe's Albuquerque Division. Starting west from Winslow at 4,856 feet, the Santa Fe climbed to reach Flagstaff at 6,896 feet, crossed the Arizona Divide at Riordan at 7,354 feet and Supai Summit at 7,313 feet, dropped to Ash Fork coming down Ash Hill and through Johnson Tunnel, and then climbed again to Seligman at 5,224 feet, before dropping all the way to Needles, California, at 483 feet above sea level.
It was brutal mountain railroading, calling for a big locomotive.
Listen, if you can, to the sound of the cold winter wind, whistling across the high desert and Ponderosa pine-covered mountains of northern Arizona, USA. You're there, in Winslow, Flagstaff, Riordan, Ash Fork, Williams; and in these small Arizona towns, you can still today witness high speed modern intermodal railroading on what was once the Third District, Albuquerque Division, of the former Santa Fe's transcontinental mainline across northern Arizona.
In this part of the high desert of Arizona, knowledgeable railfans still gather, and among those who know, the talk turns quietly to whispers. It is said that here, hidden in the shadows of time, is a long held secret about the true origins of intermodal railroading on the Santa Fe's Arizona Divide. They say there was a mysterious locomotive, stuck on a crossing in Flagstaff, in the spring of 1955. They speak in hushed tones about suspicions in that year, of secret railroad and government 'black ops' in remote railroad canyons; and they quietly discuss tales of a far-off locomotive whistle in those nights long ago, from a freight train that never existed on any timetable.
Rumors reappear from time to time that seek to explain mysterious photos uncovered, attempting to justify railfan's film being confiscated by uniformed MPs.
They hint at long-ago sightings of a phantom mysterious black and silver locomotive, running like the wind in the night.
Locals say that whatever dark secret this was.............. only the railbed, the Arizona mountains, and the Ponderosa pines will ever know for sure.
According to Santa Fe, Fairbanks Morse, EMD, and the US Government, what you are about to read, never happened........
The Gambit Begins
The legendary Santa Fe President Fred Gurley realized the implications and threat of the Interstate Highway System to the traditional US railroad. He saw that a visionary leapfrog concept was necessary for survival; and thus, he secretly initiated a project to remake the entire ATSF: a new concept that he nicknamed Project "Super Fleet A", with a radical new concept he called "multi-modal".
The vision was to replace the traditional boxcar with a fleet of a completely new type of freight train: truck trailers with removable wheels on flat cars; and a new type of flat car he called "deep well" carrying a new type of trailer he called "truck container". Vast yards would be required with cranes to lift the trailers and truck containers on and off the "deep well" cars efficiently; and the concept would require running these trains at passenger train speeds across Santa Fe's transcontinental main. This fleet of trains would be called the "Super Bee".
In the race to market survival, Mr. Gurley knew that with the threat of the Interstate Highway System, his hand was forced. And victory only comes to the brave and courageous......
Enter Fairbanks Morse
Although languishing at #3 in the field of US railroad locomotive manufacturers, FM was secretly contacted by Santa Fe. Both parties knew that in this radical "multi-modal" concept, was an opportunity that FM alone could fill: a fleet of cost effective, super-high-horsepower railroad locomotives capable of the required passenger train speeds and cross country distances. In late December 1954, FM offered at no cost to the Santa Fe, a six month trial of a new prototype Trainmaster. FM even painted the prototype locomotive in the Santa Fe black/silver zebra stripe colors:
The locomotive appeared externally as a standard Trainmaster, but inside lurked an unheard-of 20 cylinder prototype Opposed Piston FM engine generating 3150 HP. Beloit, working in secrecy in a 'black' building during the graveyard shift, had created a new locomotive specifically for "Super Bee" service. She was the first Super Trainmaster.
Appropriately, the 'black project' Trainmaster was innocently numbered '3150'. A new swing bolster version of the Trainmaster's trimount truck was built to provide the stable ride needed at speeds averaging 80 MPH on the high desert.
"Super Bee" would not be viable without the Super Trainmaster's horsepower. Not only would the multi-modal Super Bee trains need to deliver 100% consistency with a 40 hour Chicago-Los Angeles schedule and need to run like the wind across the flatlands of Kansas and the Midwest; but they would need to maintain passenger train speeds across the the biggest problem on the whole transcontinental Santa Fe railroad - the Arizona Divide on the Third District of the Santa Fe's Albuquerque Division.
With the Super Trainmaster, Santa Fe would be able to defer millions of dollars in the proposed Crookton Cutoff line rebuild on the Arizona Divide. Code named the FM H31-66, if this prototype was proven successful, the intent by FM and Santa Fe was to follow with a fleet of 3600 HP turbocharged H36-66s.
Unfortunately, she was a sight that only a privileged few would ever see.........................
Secrecy cloaked the entire project. The vast scope of ATSF's secret project to remake their entire railroad business had national ramifications. If successful, Santa Fe would remake the railroad industry, impact labor and labor unions, and in fact, remake the entire way that interstate commerce, trucking, railroad, and bulk shipment transportation was done in the US. And FM was also the only builder capable delivering the required locomotive horsepower. For all these reasons, everyone involved was sworn to complete secrecy. The implications were far-reaching enough that secret US Department of Commerce management was dispatched to overlord the whole operation.
So the great game began.
It was a heady time, full of opportunity.............. and challenges.
The Initial Trials
Hence, in the wee morning and dawn hours of 1955, a great black and silver Super Trainmaster began test runs....
Racing across the vast desert and mountain regions of Santa Fe's Arizona transcontinental main.....
The base of operations was a secret 'black enginehouse' in a remote corner of Winslow Yard - far away from prying eyes in the remote reaches of the Arizona high desert. Santa Fe 3150 first saw the light of day in the late winter months of early 1955.
The normal mode of test operation was to take the engine out well after dark, run her up and down the Arizona Divide, and then return her to the Winslow 'black enginehouse' just as dawn broke.
The object was to get across Arizona not just with brute force, but with speed, and that needed much higher horsepower than anything before. Neither EMD or Alco had anything to match it (2400 HP not until 1958-9).
The tests were conducted all over the Third District of Santa Fe's Albuquerque Division. Starting west from Winslow at 4,856 feet, the Santa Fe climbed to reach Flagstaff at 6,896 feet, crossed the Arizona Divide at Riordan at 7,354 feet and Supai Summit at 7,313 feet, dropped to Ash Fork coming down Ash Hill and through Johnson Tunnel, and then climbed again to Seligman at 5,224 feet, before dropping all the way to Needles, California, at 483 feet above sea level.
It was brutal mountain railroading, calling for a big locomotive.
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