| Wabash A-3170 405 at North Kansas City, Missouri, January 30, 1965, photo by Lou Schmitz, Chuck Zeiler collection. The slide ia a little soft on the cab side, I did the best I could. I could barely make out the Wabash Class D-12 stencilled at the bottom of the cab. This locomotive was built in May 1950 (c/n 9421) on Lima-Hamilton Order 1216-DE, specification A-3170, and railfans refer to it as a LS-1200 (Lima Switcher, 1200 horsepower). It was powered by the newly redesigned Hamilton T-89-SA four-cycle prime mover with eight 9X12 inch inline cylinders and equipped with an Elliot Model E Buschi turbo-supercharger, which produced 1200 horsepower available to the traction motors. The following is excerpted from the book, Lima, The History, by Eric Hirsimaki: Lima-Hamilton initially manufactured diesel locomotives to stock, and sold them as orders came in. At the beginning of 1950, with only 34 diesels on order, L-H decided to put more 'muscle' into their the existing specification A-3170 1000 horsepower yard switcher by changing the fuel rack settings, producing the first 1200 horsepower yard switcher and giving the company an advantage (albiet, short-lived) over the competitors. On November 28, 1949, Construction Order 1216-DE was issued for ten new stock switchers, and these became L-H's first 1200 horsepower switchers. Another five units were later added for a total of 15. Shipped between April and August 1950, the Nickel Plate acquired four, the Wabash six, and the Erie five. Ironically, Lima demonstrator 1004, which left the plant on April 3, 1950, had the dubious distinction of being the last 1000 horsepower unit constructed. The 1200 horsepower units were officially unveiled a few days later, making the 1004 (sold to the TP&W as 302) obsolete as soon as it left the property. |
