EMD F3

EMD F3
Technical specifications
Manufacturer(s)	General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
Type of locomotive	Diesel-electric
Constructed	1945-1949
Classification	EMD: F3A CN: CN V-I-A-a CN GFA-15a
Gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Prime mover	EMD 567B
Traction system	(4) EMD D-17-B or D-27-B
Cylinders	16
Cylinders size	8+1⁄2 in × 10 in (216 mm × 254 mm)

The EMD F3 is a 1,500-horsepower (1,100 kW) B-B freight- and passenger-hauling diesel locomotive produced between July 1945 and February 1949 by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division. Final assembly was at GM-EMD's La Grange, Illinois plant. A total of 1,111 cab-equipped lead A units and 696 cabless booster B units were built.

The F3 essentially differed from the EMD F2 in that it used the "new" D12 generator to produce more power, and from the later EMD F7 in electrical equipment.

Some late-model F3's had the same D27 traction motors, along with the heavier-duty electrical cables, used in the F7, and were referred to as model F5 by EMD's Engineering Department.

Today there are Twelve F3s survive at a variety of museums; ten being A units, and two being B units.

Trivia

• The F3 was the third model in GM-EMD's highly successful F-unit series of cab unit diesel locomotives, and it was the second most produced of the series.
• The New York Central railroad ran F3s. They called their paint scheme "The Lightning Strike" because of the grey stripe resembling a bolt of lightning.
• Lionel was one of the very first, if not the first model train manufacturer to release a model of the F3, starting in 1948 with the release of the 2333 Santa Fe F3 and the 2334 New York Central F3s. The Santa Fe worked very closely with Lionel and provided them with actual paint samples from the paint that they used on the real F3s to ensure that Lionel got the color correct on the model. The F3 was an instant success with Lionel, and it very quickly became the poster child for the company.
• For a very brief period of time in the late 1980s, CSX Transportation tried out their former Clinchfield F3s (one of them was actually an FP7) on a roadrailer train that ran from Atlanta to Detroit. This was in an attempt to give the train a more classy, streamlined look. The F3s performed poorly however, and it was later found that the GP40-2 was better suited for this work as they had roughly the same amount of horsepower as two F3s combined and held slightly less fuel than two F3s combined. In the end, regardless of what pulled the train, CSX's roadrailer service wasn't particularly successful as it couldn't compete with Norfolk Southern's Triple Crown roadrailer service.
• The Gulf Mobile & Ohio Railroad originally owned F3s; however, when the Illinois Central merged with the GM&O to form the Illinois Central Gulf, the ICG sent several of them to their shops in Paducah, Kentucky to be rebuilt. They were all off the roster by 1980, but several of them were rebuilt with the new classfication "FP10" and went to work for Metro-North. At least one "FP10" survives and is on static display at Edaville in South Carver, Massachusetts.
• One GM&O F3A that was still in its original configuration, 880A, was put on static display in Alabama, but fell into disrepair and was eventually cut up for scrap.
• Sometime in the late 1960s, the Monon Railroad offered an F3A to the City of Lafayette, Indiana, where their main locomotive and car shops are located, but the city turned away the offer. No Monon F3s survive.

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