Alco FA2's & FB2's

I was wondering what these units were used for and how the commonly operated (AB, ABA, ABBA, etc.) Were they used in freight service, passenger, or both?

I believe they were used primarily for road freight service. In earlier years you would see solid consists, in just about any combination. More and more, over the years, they were broken up and used in consist with just about any other unit.

Crews complained about them in winter because they were cold. The lead traction motor blower tended to pull cold air into the cabs.

They could be found in various combinations with FA1s, FB1s, RS3s, RS11s and RS32s.

Thanks for the info.

FA-1/FB-1 units went away shortly after or coincidental with the PC merger. I'm not sure if they were traded in on new Century units from Schenectady, or to GE on new U-series stuff. Attractive as the carbodies may have been (like shortened PAs) they didn't hold up well under use.

I don't know if any of the NYC's FA/FB were steam generator equipped, but they did **occasionally** operate on passenger trains: "Trains" published an article (in two parts?) on the FA some years ago that had a picture of two or three Alco BB carbody units on a National Guard extra: special train, not on regular passenger timetable, not frequent enough to justify buyin extra passenger units (and summertime, so the steam-generator or lack thereof wasn't an issue), but if you want to have NYC FA (probably, though I'm not sure, FA-2/FB-2) pulling a passenger train on a model railroad, and a nitpicker complains, THERE IS A PROTOTYPE.

None of the Central FAs or FBs were equipped with steam generators.

And slightly off topic, there's a photo, dated Aug 1952, of F7s pulling a passenger train in George Drury's "NYC in the Hudson Valley". In a pinch, I guess any power would suffice if steam wasn't needed and it could go 60 mph.

So tell the nitpickers it's ok throw F7s on varnish too.

I don't have that book, but are we sure they're F7's. The Central had 4 F3A's & 2 F3B's equipped for passenger service. They operated as 2 A-B-A sets until derated to freight service.

Photo in the "NYC in the Hudson Valley" book shows a pair of F7's - lead unit #1810 with a heavyweight train.

Another interesting photo can be found in Morning Sun's ERIE IN COLOR - A NYC FA2 pulling an Erie passenger train on a detour in October 1955 south of Corning, NY.