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EMD F2
Rock Island F2 locomotive no. 43 and a contemporary B unit lead a freight train through Joliet, Illinois, in August 1963
Type and origin
Power typeDiesel-electric
BuilderGeneral Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
ModelF2
Build dateJuly 1946 – November 1946
Total produced74 A units, 30 B units
Specifications
Configuration:
​
 • AARB-B
Gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Prime moverEMD 16-567B
GeneratorEMD D8
Performance figures
Maximum speed65–102 mph (105–164 km/h)
Power output1,350 hp (1000 kW)
Career
DispositionAll scrapped

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 1,350 hp (1,010 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 produced.

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 customer. Like some early F3s, they were built with small side numberboards on the nose. 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.

All F2's were scrapped, making them the only EMD F-unit model with no extant examples.

Original owners

Railroad Quantity
A units		 Quantity
B units		 Road numbers
A units		 Road numbers
B units		 Notes
Atlantic and East Carolina Railway 2 — 400–401 —
Atlantic Coast Line 12 12 324–335 324B–335B All units built with steam generators
Boston and Maine Railroad 18 3 4224A–4226A, 4250–4264 4224B–4226B
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad 10 – 150A–154A, 155C–159C —
Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 12 — 38–49 —
Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway 2 1 147A,C 147B All rebuilt to 1500hp GP9M in 1957
New York Central Railroad 2 — 1604–1605 —
Southern Railway (Alabama Great Southern Railroad) 2 — 6700,6701 -- Both units equipped with steam generators
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México 14 14 6200A–6213A 6200B–6213B 6210AB-6213AB built with steam generators
Totals 74 30

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to EMD F2 locomotives.
  • Lamb, J. Parker (2007). Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive. Railroads Past and Present. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-34863-0.
  • Marre, Louis A. (1995). Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years: A Guide to Diesels Built Before 1972. Railroad Reference Series. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-258-2.
  • Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-026-7.
  • Schafer, Mike (1998). Vintage Diesel Locomotives. Enthusiast Color Series. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-0507-2.
  • Solomon, Brian (2000). The American Diesel Locomotive. Osceola, Wisconsin: MBI Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-7603-0666-6.
  • Solomon, Brian (2005). EMD F-Unit Locomotives. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press. ISBN 978-1-58007-192-5.
  • Solomon, Brian (2006). EMD Locomotives. St. Paul, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-2396-0.
  • Solomon, Brian (2010). Vintage Diesel Power. Minneapolis, Minnesota: MBI Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7603-3795-0.
  • Solomon, Brian (2011). Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America's Favorite Locomotives. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4007-3.
  • Solomon, Brian (2012). North American Locomotives: A Railroad-by-Railroad Photohistory. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4370-8.
  • Wilson, Jeff (1999). F Units: The Diesels That Did It. Golden Years of Railroading. Waukesha, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing. ISBN 978-0-89024-374-9.
  • "EMD's F2 - An Interim Model" by Warren Calloway, Dan Cupper, and Paul Withers from Diesel Era Volume 7 Number 2 March/April 1996, pages 31-46.
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