On FT locomotives in A-B and A-B-B-A configurations, the B unit was extra long. In A-B-A configuration, the B unit was shorter.
What was in that extended area in the rear of the long B units in A-B configuration?
Were any of them equipped with steam generators for passenger service?
-Kevin
The FT B carbody “looks” like it is extended at one end but keep in mind that the truck bolster centers were only 26’ 6" on the B unit with 11’ 9" on the coupler end and 8’ 6" on the drawbar end. The added space by moving the truck forward was needed for draft grar.
The later F B units were somewhat standardized to fifty feet over pulling faces and truck bolster centers at thirty feet.
Pretty sure some of the Santa Fe FTs and Some built for G-N, Rio Grande and a few others had steam generators in the B units.
The majority of FTs were built as A-B sets but there were a few A-B-A FTs made. I’m not aware of any drawbar-connected A-B-B-A sets.
(edit) I stand corrected. G-N DID have A-B-B-A drawbar connected sets [:$]
I can’t pinpoint exactly how much shorter the “FTSB” used in drawbar-connected A-B-A sets other than mention of “a few feet” in several books (Northern Pacific and M&StL, DL&W, bought these) but since the B unit had drawbars on both ends the frame length could be shortened.
Regards, Ed
Thank you. I could not find this information anywhere I looked.
I wonder if the GREAT NORTHERN drawbar connected FT A-B-B-A units had the “FTSB” booster units in the center.
-Kevin
My Bad!!! It was Northern Pacific that had the A-B-B-A connected sets [banghead]
Fingers typing before brain engaged!
Northern Pacific Railway’s diesel engine 6005 in Lester, ca. 1950 by IMLS Digital Collections & Content, on Flickr
Northern Pacific Railway’s new FT diesel locomotives in Auburn, ca. 1944 by IMLS Digital Collections & Content, on Flickr
Description: Ten sets of four-unit FT diesel locomotives were purchased by Northern Pacific Railway in 1944 and assigned to freight service between Livingston Mountain and Auburn. Repair and maintenance of these locomotives was assigned to the Auburn Diesel Shop. The locomotives pictured were later changed in number to 5402 instead of 6002, 5403 instead of 6003, etc., the number “5400” representing the horsepower of four units of these locomotives coupled together. The normal configuration was with a cab unit on either end, with two cabless units sandwiched in between.
None of the reference notes
That extended area was the crew lounge/water closet. (Because passenger trains dont have cabooses.)
[(-D]
Douglas
Southern (NO&NE) had two four unit sets of drawbar connected FTs. These were the units of EMD orders E-485 and E-486. The booster units in order E-486 were the short booster type. Road numbers were 6800AB-6803AB.
Ed in Kentucky
FT boosters with steam generators could be found on AT&SF, D&RGW, EMD demonstrators, GN, Milwaukee and SAL.
The steam generators were removed from the demonstrators before they were sold to the Southern in May 1941.
Ed in Kentucky
The 24 FT short boosters could be found on: CRI&P 4, DL&W 4, GN 10, M&SL 2, and Southern 4.
In reality, quite true about the hopper, anyway. No B unit, no hopper (WC).
The Lackawanna had a steam locomotive tender (X-600) fitted with a drawbar that would mate to the rear of the FT B so it could still operate while one of the cab units required shop work. It was painted to match the gray & maroon! A genuine dummy unit.
The B units had no batteries so they couldn’t run without the A.
Regards, Ed
Five railroads owned original FS booster units. Those were the FT type boosters that were built with couplers on both ends and had the fifth porthole for hostler control. The five original owners were: ATSF, D&RGW, MP, SOU, and SSW. All Santa Fe boosters were type FS. D&RGW, MP, SOU and SSW also owned FT boosters. And the Southern also owned short boosters.
Additionally some railroads replaced drawbars with couplers on regular FT boosters.
Ed in Kentucky
All FS type boosters were equipped with batteries and were capable of independent operation by a hostler.
Ed in Kentucky
OK, so I should have been more specific in saying that the “standard” FT B unit or section did not have batteries.
During the production run and the specific options ordered of the one thousand ninety-six locomotives made would take a bit more space than this forum allows.
Ed
The FTSB (short booster) was designed to allow railroads to run a drawbar connected A-B-A set of FTs. Since the original FTs were designed to be A-B sets connected by a drawbar (causing an overhang on the front of the A unit and the back of the B unit to allow standard couplers), a railroad could only run them A-B or A-B+B-A sets.
Many railroads found one A-B set wasn’t enough power for a mainline freight, and two were too much. Three was the Goldilocks “just right”.EMD designed the short booster so railroads could run A-B-A sets. At Santa Fe’s urging, EMD worked out a way to jerry-rig a coupler where the drawbar would normally go.
After WW2, a fair number of railroads bought F2 or F3 A units and coupled them to FT A-B sets to work together in what was sometimes called “FT2” sets.
BTW, only the full-length FT-B units could hold a steam generator and water tanks for passenger service. Not enough room in the FTSB.
OK, I read through all the great responses, and a lot of information that Ed sent me (THANKS Ed), and it sounds like my idea MIGHT be workable.
I acquired a good set of brass FTA/FTB, and I do not have a use for them.
In my operating scheme, I have 8-10 “fixed” trains, and I want a steam and diesel locmotive for each of them. One of these is my mail train.
I currently have a USRA Light Pacific to pull this train, but lack a diesel counterpart. It sound like in 1954, it could be plausible for a heater equipped FTA/FTB to be used to pull this train.
The train consist includes an RPO and an Observation car.
-Kevin
[quote user=“gmpullman”]
SeeYou190
I wonder if the GREAT NORTHERN drawbar connected FT A-B-B-A units had the “FTSB” booster units in the center.
My Bad!!! It was Northern Pacific that had the A-B-B-A connected sets 
Fingers typing before brain engaged!
Northern Pacific Railway’s diesel engine 6005 in Lester, ca. 1950 by IMLS Digital Collections & Content, on Flickr
Northern Pacific Railway’s new FT diesel locomotives in Auburn, ca. 1944 by IMLS Digital Collections & Content, on Flickr
Description:
I believe the author of the captions was using ca. as an abbreviation for circa meaning “approximately” or “about”. When a specific date can not be ascertained there is sometimes made a reasonable guess based on what may be portrayed in the photograph hence “circa” or ca. 1944.
(ˈsɜr kə)
prep., adv.
The FT short booster was 43’ 10" long per “all about F’s” by Don Dover in the January 1970 issue of Extra 2200 South. See page 21.
Ed in Kentucky
I never received an answer to this question:
Would pulling a mail train be a suitable assignment in 1954 for a Steam Generator equipped FTA/FTB set?
Or, did I miss the answer?
-Kevin
Kevin, prototypicaly it depends on the number of cars if it is a short consist then a boiler equipped GP7 or GP9 would be sufficien. The Wabash had 3 car train from Toledo that connected with one of name trains in Ft Wayne powered by one GP7.
Rick Jesionowski
Yes. ATSF converted some of their FT’s into 95 mph passenger power after WW2 by changing the gearing, until they got paasenger geared F3’s, when they reverted to their original gearing. The fly in the ointment is that a lot of the things that were done manually on the FT, like control of the cooling system (the fireman had to run from unit to unit) and transition, were done automatically on the later F’s. Plus they were built with model 567 and 567A engines - all models prior to 567C (F9, GP9, SD9, etc) were prone to leaking water into the lube oil system, which can mean road failures (and almost assuredly, engine damage). Add the fact that even the newest FT’s had nine years wear in '54. And the Post Office strictly monitored your on time performance, do you really want to risk that mail contract…