The FM H-12-44TS was a light road switcher version of the Fairbanks-Morse H-12-44 yard

switcher locomotive A switcher locomotive (American English), shunter locomotive (British English), or shifter locomotive (Pennsylvania Railroad terminology) is a locomotive used for maneuvering railway vehicles over short distances. Switchers do not usually move ...

. Only three of the , six-cylinder

opposed piston engine An opposed-piston engine is a piston engine in which each cylinder has a piston at both ends, and no cylinder head. Petrol and diesel opposed-piston engines have been used mostly in large-scale applications such as ships, military tanks, and f ...

locomotive A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...

s (builder numbers 12L1021–12L1023) were manufactured especially for the

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

in May, 1956. The units had an extended frame to accommodate the addition of a short hood behind the cab, and were configured in a B-B wheel arrangement and mounted atop a pair of two-axle

AAR AAR or Aar may refer to: Geography * Aar, a river in Switzerland, tributary of the Rhine *Aar (Lahn), a tributary of Lahn river in Germany, descending from the Taunus mountains * Aar (Dill), a tributary of Dill river in Germany, also in the bas ...

Type-A switcher

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

with all axles powered. H-12-44TSs also came equipped with steam generator units as they were acquired solely for shuttling passenger cars in and around the Dearborn Station terminal in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The locomotives (#541–#543) were delivered in the road's ''Zebra Stripe'' paint scheme, though all three would finish out their days on the Santa Fe dressed in the switcher version of the blue and yellow ''Billboard'' livery. Coinciding with the end of Santa Fe passenger train service in Chicago, #541 was retired on June 1, 1972, and sold to the Allison Steel Manufacturing Company in October of that year; #542 and #543 were both retired on May 7, 1974, though #543 (the only example to have evaded the scrap yard) was subsequently preserved in

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

and donated to the

California State Railroad Museum The California State Railroad Museum is a museum in the state park system of California, United States, interpreting the role of the "iron horse" in connecting California to the rest of the nation. It is located in Old Sacramento State Historic ...

in March 1986. It has since been moved to the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview Histo ...

References

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External links

A photo of Santa Fe #542 switching a streamlined baggage car at Chicago, Illinois in August, 1965

A photo of Santa Fe #542 backing the El Capitan passenger train into Chicago Union Station, March, 1971

A photo of preserved Santa Fe #543 in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 29, 1986

Fairbanks-Morse H12-44, H12-44TS & H12-46 Roster
{{Diesel Switchers B-B locomotives H-12-44TS Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway locomotives Passenger locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1956 Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Shunting locomotives