H15-44/H16-44 Diesel Locomotive

Prototype Information

The Fairbanks-Morse H15-44 rolled out in 1947 as the company’s first road-switcher. Its 1,500-horsepower opposed-piston 38D8 1/8 engine gave it a distinctive mechanical edge, while Raymond Loewy styling set it apart visually. Railroads used the H15-44 in both freight and yard service, but only 35 were built before production ended in 1950. Buyers included the Pennsylvania, Boston & Maine, and Monongahela.

Fairbanks-Morse replaced it in 1950 with the H16-44. The new model boosted power to 1,600 horsepower, carried a revised carbody, and went head-to-head with EMD’s GP7 and ALCO’s RS-3. Around 300 units left the Beloit shops by 1963 for roads such as the New Haven, Norfolk & Western, and Canadian Pacific. Railroads valued their pulling power, but the complex opposed-piston prime mover made them harder to maintain than EMD’s simpler diesels.

Most H15-44s and H16-44s left Class I rosters by the late 1960s, though some ran longer on short lines. A few survive in preservation, standing as reminders of Fairbanks-Morse’s bold but short-lived push into the road-switcher market.