EMD F2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

EMD F2
Power type Diesel-electric
Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
Model F2
Build date July 1946– November 1946
Total production 74 A units, 30 B units
AAR wheel arr. B-B
Gauge 4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)
Power output 1,350 hp (1000 kW)

The EMD F2 was a freight-hauling diesel locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between July 1946 and November 1946. It succeeded the FT model in GM-EMD's F-unit sequence, and was replaced in turn by the F3. The F2 was in many respects a transitional type between those two; it kept the 1350hp (1000 kW) rated D8 generator from the FT due to late development of the new D12 generator intended for the F3, but in a revised carbody design and internal layout that would be continued through the rest of the F-unit series. 74 cab-equipped lead A units and 30 cabless booster B units were built, making this the least built of all the F-unit variants.

There are no reliable recognition features for an F2. They were built with what has become known as 'Type 1' side panels, with three portholes and no filter grilles, but this was carried over into early F3 production and in any case could be changed later by the owning railroad. Like most F3s, they were built with small side numberboards. They, and all subsequent F-units, are readily distinguished from the FT by having two exhaust stacks instead of four, and by having no large overhang on the end of the B units, while the trucks were a little further away from the other ends.

They also had four radiator fans at the center of the unit next to each other in line on the roof instead of two at each end. This external feature was the result of a major change in internal arrangement, the replacement of all mechanical and belt-drives for radiator fans and traction motor blowers with electric motors. Power for these accessories was produced by a new D14 three phase alternator built into the main DC generator, called a "companion alternator". This device has been used in all later EMD road locomotives to the present.

[edit] Original Buyers


Owner Cab-equipped 'A' units Cabless booster 'B' units
Alabama Great Southern Railroad 2
Atlantic and East Carolina Railway 2
Atlantic Coast Line 12 12
Boston and Maine Railroad 18 3
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad 10
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 12
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway 2 1
New York Central Railroad 2
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México 14 14
v • d • e
Diesel cab and cowl locomotives built by GM-EMD
Cab units
(F- & E-units)
FT, F2, F3, F7, FP7, F9, FP9, FL9, TA, EA/EB, E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E6, E7, E8, E9, AA, AB6
Cowl units