I have a friend who is seeking to find parts for a Fairbanks-Morse H12-44. He is particularly interested in truck/axle components. Does anyone on this forum know of any of these locomotives that exist inoperable outside of museums (boneyards, scrapyards, etc.)? Do any of the H12-44 truck/axle components interchange with other F-M or EMD equipment that might open up more opportunities to find what he needs? Thanks for any help!

rsmitty@yahoo.com

As far as I know, most (all?) H12-44's had AAR-A trucks. This was a standard switcher truck used on switchers built by all major builders, and is still in somewhat common use. I'm not aware of any modifications that had to be made to AAR-A trucks for use on F-M's, and I would imagine that any old SW8, SW1200 or S3 could provide truck parts.

Frank Hicks

fullparallel@wideopenwest.com

I might suggest caution and an attention to detail in the process of acquiring any replacement parts. The "plain vanilla" so-called Standard AAR switcher truck was used under F-M, EMD and Alco locomotives, but all of the components, after the basics, are not 100 percent identical. There are differences, for example, in the motor mounting, which can be modified for interchangeability, and the spring hangers, which cannot.

Step one is to identify what is actually under your locomotive as railroadÂ’s that ran units from the differing builderÂ’s are known to have swapped the trucks around. Confirmation is often easiest to do by referencing the cast-in part numbers to the three builders or at least be sure your new replacement part matches the one it is changing out before you plunk down that hard-earned cash only to find out that the Alco part wonÂ’t fit in the EMD truck under your F-M. locomotive. And, check both trucks. They might not be the same.

KRK