DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Railroad Museum has begun work to cosmetically restore Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern Railway Fairbanks Morse H-10-44 switcher No. 11. The museums plans to restore the cab, engine compartment, and locomotive exterior. It will be repainted into the MN&S 1960s-era paint scheme which featured large MNS billboard-style lettering. Earlier this month the locomotive was moved into the museum’s restoration shop and crews began sanding and stripping to determine if any of the metalwork is needed.
No. 11 was built in 1946 as Minnesota Western Railroad No. 51. Minnesota Western had a 115-mile line from Minneapolis to Wesota, Minn., which was operated for many years by Minneapolis, Northfield & Southern. In 1956 Minnesota Western changed ownership, and the locomotive became MN&S No. 11. It worked in switching service for the short line, primarily in the western suburbs of Minneapolis. In 1976, it was sold to Hallett Dock Co., which used it to switch cars at the company’s dock in West Duluth, Minn. retaining its number 11. The only change Hallett made was the addition of a ladder toward the front of the locomotive; this will be removed during restoration.
Hallett donated No. 11 to the museum on Feb. 19, 2005. Because FM diesel engines were still widely used in marine service, when railroads retired their Fairbanks-Morse locomotives the engines were usually removed and resold for marine use. When No. 11 was donated it was still operational, although it has not been started up by the museum in many years. No. 11 is one of only a handful of intact Fairbanks-Morse locomotives preserved in the United States.
Diesels produced by FM were used in Navy submarines during WWII. Hoping to capitalize on the locomotive market as the switch was made from steam to diesels, in 1944 Fairbanks-Morse began production of a 1,000-hp yard switcher, the H-10-44. The company produced 197 locomotives of this type from 1944 to 1949. While several FM models proved reliable, they never caught on with the railroads. Fairbanks-Morse produced its last locomotives in 1963 for export to Mexico. Another former MN&S switcher, FM H-12-44 No. 10, is displayed as Chicago & North Western No. 10 minus its engine at Milton, Wis.
There is no timeline set for completion of the restoration. For more information or to in support of the project, please visit the museum’s website.
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