MILW FTs on the Milwaukee Road

I know from an historical locomotive roster that Milwaukee Road had several A/B sets of EMD FT locomotives, and I know that they had at least two paint schemes over time. I also know that they started acquiring them in 1943 and that they traded them all in January 1959.

What I don't know is roughly when the earlier paint scheme was used and when the maroon and orange paint scheme came into being, nor whether some were delivered in one paint scheme and some were delivered in the other.

I also don't know where these mostly operated along that system. It seems that Milwaukee Road tended to cluster locomotive models in one area, which makes sense from a maintenance and repair perspective.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Adam

 

I count 13 sets of FT's for the Road.......They were actually ABCD sets of 4 units. The #'s were 35ABCD thru 47ABCD. #40 was the first delivered in 1941. The second set was #41 in 1943, followed by #'s 42 thru 47 in 1944 and #'s 35 thru39 in 1945. As you noted, all 13 sets were traded in on GP9's in 1959.....the trucks were actually refurbished and used in some of the GP's. The grey w orange lightning bolt scheme was the delivered scheme for all the engines......the repaint to the orange and maroon began in 1953.
As far as where they were used, the primary use was between Chicago and the west coast. The first 2 sets were used in "the gap" between Avery and Othello in the non electric area. The FT's were also used between Chicago and Harlowton, where they handed off to the electrics. They were also used on some "hotshot" freights between Chicago and the Twin Cities, and between Chicago and Omaha.
The boosters in the first 8 sets were equiped with steam generators so they could double in passenger service, but I've never seen that they were used in that way.

 

Thanks for the information, folks.

Dave, I have seen some documentation of ABCD sets, too. My impression was that while they were numbered xx-A,B,C,D, that they could be run as AB sets as well, but I have no hard evidence for that either way.

I understand that some roads would semi-permanently couple their A and B units to form, essentially, an articulated 2700 HP locomotive. Did Milwaukee Road do any of this?

 

Boxcab.......My reference says all the Milwaukee FT's came with standard couplers at both ends of each of the 4 units although a lot of railroads did opt for drawbars.........however I believe EMD considered the 4 units to be a single engine 193 ft long weighing 912,000 lbs and generating 5400 hp.......when delivered, all 4 units carried only the loco #......35 thru 47. MR didn't add the ABCD till the engines had been in service for several years. The Booster units had to run with an FT cab unit.......they didn't have their own batteries and relied on the cab units for low voltage power control. The boosters on 40 - 47 had steam generators so they could be used for passenger service. The FT's were always crewed by a 2 man crew on the Milwaukee Road, whether as a 2, 3, or 4 unit loco. I've never seen a photo of a MR FT cab unit alone, or a 3 unit configuration, they seem to always run as AB or ABBA (or ABCD)......but I've seen EMD ads showing an ABA configuration. The cab units didn't have MU connections on the fronts, which along with the boosters need to run with a cab unit tended to keep the FT's with other FT's in consists, although I've seen pictures of an FT AB unit MUed with an F7, with the F7 on lead.

 

I picked up Milwaukee Road Locomotive, Vol. 1: EMD Freight and Passenger E, F, and FP Units.

According to this book, the Milwaukee Road bought basically 4-unit ABBA "locomotives." The author, Thomas J. Strauss, writes, "... although some of the other Class One railroads opted for permanent draw bars between a cub unit and a booster unit, all of the Milwaukee Road's FTs had conventional couplers between all of the four units in each four-unit set. However, each booster unit was dependent upon its adjacent cab unit for access to batteries and low voltage power control." (p.15, Milwaukee Road Locomotive, Vol. 1..., Strauss)

So, in effect, a booster unit would be dependent on a cab unit as I understand.


Hmmm, I wonder if anyone has made N scale decals for the earlier paint scheme.

 

I've never seen decals.........Intermountain did a run of Milw. FT's in that scheme several years ago. I think they did 4 road #'s in AB sets. They are doing a new run this summer (at least that's what they say) in the second paint scheme....again in 4 numbers and AB sets.

 

I have an A/B set on order from IM. That, in part, prompted this question. I also just like talking about trains and the Milwaukee Road.

 

Despite what Strauss says, I think you are right on the A-B linkages at least for the first several years. Looking at the photos, I frequently see an AB unit at the head of a train, with the same number, e.g, 42A-42B, but I haven't yet found a single FT A or B by itself.

I think Strauss mis-spoke here or was just mistaking a coupler between the two B units in an ABBA set for couplers between all the units. I don't doubt that he has experience as a Milwaukee Road engineer, but I don't think he is the final word on everything. Still, his series of books has been very helpful to me. I have the one on the E and F units, the one on passenger trains, and the one with the Alcos, Baldwins, F-Ms, etc.

 

Thanks, Ken!!

Intermountain sells their FTs as a coupled A-B pair with what appears to be a drawbar, so in that sense they are prototypical. Whee!

Strauss has, I think, a good photo collection and has some good insights from the cab, but sometimes these little details probably slipped by him. I can understand. It's not like I remember every little detail from every building I inspect.

Adam