FM OP800

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FM OP800
FM OP800
A Fairbanks-Morse Model OP800 railcar, former Georgia Northern Railway #2.
Power type Diesel-electric
Builder St. Louis Car Company
Model OP800
Build date 1939
Total production 6
AAR wheel arr. A1A-2
Gauge ft 8½ in (1435 mm)
Engine type 2-stroke diesel
Cylinders 5, Opposed piston
Cylinder size 8 in × 10 in
(203 mm × 254 mm)
Transmission DC generator,
DC traction motors
Power output 800 hp (597 kW)
Locomotive brakes Straight air
Train brakes Air
Career Southern Railway,
Georgia and Florida Railroad,
Georgia Northern Railway
Locale North America
Disposition All scrapped

The OP800 was a lightweight, streamlined railcar built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1939. Fairbanks-Morse supplied the 800 hp, five-cylinder 8 x 10 opposed piston engine prime mover. The units were configured in a highly-unusual A1A-2 wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of road trucks, and equipped with a front drop coupler pilot. The aft section was divided into two separate compartments: one was used to transport baggage and the other served as a small railway post office, or RPO (the forward door, located just behind the radiator louvers, was equipped with a mail hook).

A total of 6 units, accompanied by matching trailing car sets, were manufactured exclusively for the Southern Railway (SR). Four of the OP800s were scrapped in 1955 (selected parts were retained for maintenance use on other SR F-M motive power), while the other two were sold off to the Georgia and Florida Railroad and Georgia Northern Railway as maintenance cars.

There are no OP800 units known to survive in any shape or form.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Co.. ISBN 0-89024-026-4.